If you work at a typical broadcast station, you have a number of little boxes under a console or in the back of an equipment rack. They amplify the lower level of a prosumer audio playback device, mute a speaker, or digitize an audio feed. Hank Landsberg is one of the original interface box makers and says he’s sold 120,000 little blue boxes. He still makes the IHF interface amps, but now offers a wide product selection, including a new AES audio switcher, PowerClamp surge suppressors, and A-to-D converters.

Come meet Hank and learn a thing or two about how he got started, what’s different about his blue boxes, and what’s new to the line-up.

Join us at iHeart Media, 9660 Granite Ridge Drive, San Diego on Wednesday, November 18th at 12 noon. Henry buys us lunch. All are all welcome. Continue reading November 18 Meeting: Henry’s Little Boxes →

“If you stand still, there’s only one way to go, and that’s backwards”– right? ATSC 3.0 is coming for television whether you are ready or not. Joel Wilhite, Systems Design Engineer for Harmonic, Inc., is coming to San Diego to explain it to you. He’s a terrific speaker, so even if you’re a little slow like me, you can get the gist of what he’s saying, or at least have the opportunity to nod your head in public.

Come join us for lunch and learning at 12pm noon Wednesday, September 16, 2015 at KGTV, 4600 Air Way, San Diego. Joel’s going to by you lunch in KGTV’s amazing cafeteria.

Joel is on that ATSC-3 committee and he will join us to tell us more about it. He’s an Application Specialist in digital television broadcasting with a specialty in large and small compression systems and transport interfaces for digital media. He has been with Harmonic for 20 years.

It’s a AVB and AES-67 Technology Update. With a focus on the Transport mechanism of various AoIP layer 3 and AoE layer 2 technologies, a basic overview of each topology will be described. We will highlight the architecture of IEEE 802.1 AVB (Audio Video Bridging) as well as AES-67 (Audio only over IP, AoIP) and the key differences between them. IEEE 802.1 is a layer 2 transport designed to replace HDMI point to point connections, and AES-67 is a layer 3 transport most commonly seen in radio broadcast facilities. We will outline important features, architecture and key differences for each followed by a summary of applications and application notes along with available products for each topology.

Join us Wednesday, August 19th at 12pm noon at KFMB Stations, 7677 Engineer Road in Kearny Mesa, San Diego. SAS will provide a lunch. Open to all.

About Al Salci

Al Salci is a veteran analog and digital designer, and software engineer with over 30 years experience in broadcast communications. Originally from Toronto Ontario, Canada, Al holds a Bachelor of Science from Mohawk College of Electrical Engineering & Technology.  Al started his career in Television broadcast designing vertical interval time code (VITC) editing systems for the then new helical scan VTR machines. Al moved into radio in 1983 as Director of Engineering for McCurdy Radio Industries where he developed a wide range of products ranging from Audio Consoles, Large Scale Switchers, Intercoms, DAs and the original ATS-100 Audio Test Set. Originally designed for ABC Networks, Al worked on the very first system utilizing large scaled switchers and RTOS automation for National programming syndication via Satellite to different time zones by sending control closures to trigger national or local breaks, ID’s liners, etc, many of which are still in use today known as NETCUE control.

Later, Al joined RTS systems in Burbank California as Senior Digital Design Engineer and developed Digital Intercom systems and 2-wire TV camera communications networks. Al Salci joined up with Ed Fritz, another veteran design engineer in Burbank California and started Sierra Automated Systems & Eng. Corp. that specializes in high-density distribution, Radio Intercom systems, and Digital Audio Control console surfaces. SAS is celebrating over 29 years of supplying high end, large scaled integrated digital audio distribution and console-networked systems.

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.

What do you know about current practices in tower lighting? Are the latest LED arrays always legal? Can you just have tower crews unscrew your old incandescent bulbs and replace them with LEDs? If so, what about your flasher? Are there better ways to power your lamps on an AM tower? What do you know about the trend to lamp fewer towers? Will LEDs really save money?

Whether or not you know all of the answers to these questions, why not join us at the June 10, 2015 SBE Chapter 36 meeting at 12 noon? It’s at KFMB, 7677 Engineer Road, in Kearny Mesa. Parking on the street. Dialight buys lunch.

About Presenter Craig Franck

Craig lives in Littleton, Colorado and manages sales in 19 western states. He worked in the telecom field for 25 years in the area of analog and digital voice and data, microwave radios, and power systems with companies such as Tellabs, Motorola, Eltec/Valere. He has electronics and business degrees.