November 14 Chapter Meeting

Maybe you’ve heard that a Boston LPTV station, WWOO-LD, received an experimental license and is now broadcasting 5G technology from an antenna in downtown Boston. XGN Network is providing the technical horsepower and CEO Frank Copsidas says they chose 5G both for its economics for LPTV station owners and its potential for compatibility with existing mobile phones.

Qualcomm tried something similar to this with the MediaFLO project in the late 2000s and they discontinued the system. What makes Copsidas and their partners Bitstern and Qualcomm think they can make it work this time? What content would we watch? What does the FCC say about this? Do handsets have apps that allow access? What’s happening at WWOO-LD now?

For the answers to these and more questions, join our presenters from XGN, Bitstem, and Qualcomm as Chapters 36 and 47 host a Zoom online presentation on Tuesday, November 14 at 11:30 AM PT. Sign-up for the meeting here.

You can find videos of the 5G launches and more information at 5GBroadcasting.org.

Generation4 HD Radio hardware and software offers immense flexibility and reliability of HD Radio transmissions. Alan will discuss the benefits of upgrading from Gen3 to Gen4 and discuss best practices and field implementation of Gen4 technology.

Join us Tuesday, September 12th at 11:30 AM online. Sign up for the Zoom call here. This meeting was organized by Chapter 47, Los Angeles.

About Alan Jurison

Alan started at age 15 with Pilot Communications in Syracuse, NY. During this time, he developed the technical aspects of the industry’s first remote voice-tracking for stations in distant cities which later became commonplace in the industry. He graduated with a B.S. in Information Management and Technology from Syracuse University and was promoted to Regional Information Systems Manager and Broadcast Engineer for Citadel Broadcasting, now Cumulus Media. For 11 years, he led many IT and Engineering projects companywide. In 2012, Alan joined iHeartMedia as a Senior Operations Engineer for the corporate Technical Operations group. Much of his focus has been on deploying and advancing iHeartMedia’s digital HD Radio data services. Alan is a member of the SBE) and holds several certifications, including Certified Professional Broadcast Engineer (CPBE), AM Directional Specialist (AMD), Digital Radio Broadcast (DRB), and Broadcast Networking Engineer (CBNE). Alan serves on the NAB Radio Technology Committee (NABRTC) and National Radio Systems Committee (NRSC). Alan has been in the radio industry for over 29 years and offers a unique perspective on the convergence of IT and broadcast engineering.

Join SBE Chapter 36 at our after-work, in-person networking opportunity on Wednesday, August 16 at McGregor’s Grill, 10475 San Diego Mission Rd, San Diego, east of I-15 off Friars Road. This is an informal, no-host get-together for dinner and drinks. We’ll be there at 5:30 PM but come when you can. Parking here can be challenging, but there is authorized overload parking at the lot next door just west of the mini-mall where McGregor’s is located. There’s a trivia quiz at 9:00 that you can join if you’re into that.

Eric Boldt is the Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the National Weather Service (NWS) Los Angeles/Oxnard forecast office located in Oxnard, providing weather and climate predictions for Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties. He is responsible for the NWS office’s critical partnerships with city, county, and state agencies, and manages the public outreach and preparedness programs for the third-largest population center and the second-largest media industry in the nation. Eric has a B.S. in Atmospheric Science from the University of Kansas and has worked in the field of meteorology for nearly 35 years.

Eric’s presentation will cover NWS Support and Best Practices for Non-Weather Emergency Messages over NOAA Weather Radio.

Join us Tuesday, July 11th, at 11:30 AM via Zoom. Organized by SBE Chapter 47 Los Angeles. Register here. 

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.