National

Members Re-elect Officer Slate

SBE headquarters announced national election results that continue the current slate of officers, with some new directors.

New to the board as directors are Andrea Cummis, CBT, CTO, senior director of engineering 
and operations, WNET in New York, N.Y.; John Heimerl, CPBE, vice president of strategic technologies, WHRO-TV, WHRO-FM, WHRV-FM in Norfolk, Va.; and Wayne M. Pecena, CPBE, 8-VSB AMD, DRB, CBNE, director of engineering, Texas A&M University-Educational Broadcast Services in College Station, Texas.

2012 was the first year the society offered online voting, which saw a 64% increase in ballots cast from the previous year. The total number of ballots cast was 1,313, which were 511 more ballots than in 2011.

National

John Battison Dead at 96

SBE founder and first president John Battison has passed away in Loudonville, Ohio. According to an article written about him by his editor Chriss Sherer at Radio Magazine Online, John had a long, distinguished career as broadcast engineer, both in the U.S. and internationally. He served as staff broadcast engineer, technical consultant, writer, and lecturer. He founded the Society of Broadcast Engineers in 1963 and was honored with the SBE’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.

Local News

Mike Uhl Joins RF Specialties

Michael Uhl of Escondido has joined RF Specialties of California as sales representative specializing in audio systems. Mike is a well-known local audio rep, having worked for Pacific Research & Engineering for over 20 years. He also sold for Sierra Automated Systems and Telos/Omnia/Axia.

His local partner, Steve Moreen, will continue as sales rep specializing in RF products.

Seminars

Audio Loudness Seminars Presented by SBE and ATSC

The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) and the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) have partnered to offer a day-long seminar discussing important updates in DTV audio loudness standards and the implementation stage of the FCC’s Commercial Audio Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act. The CALM Act becomes effective on December 13, 2012.

Experts from the industry will present FCC rules and updated information on the CALM Act, practical solutions for implementation, loudness measurement and monitoring technology, receiver processing and equipment solutions and an in-depth tutorial on ATSC’s Recommended Practice A/85. Speakers for the seminar include Jim Starzynski, NBC Universal; Pat Waddell, Harmonic; Steve Lyman, Dolby Labs; Tim Carroll, Linear Acoustic; Steve Silva, Fox; and Dave Higgins, Comcast.

The Audio Loudness seminars will be held in Chicago, Ill. on August 23; Los Angeles, Calif. on September 27; and Atlanta, Ga. on November 13. Station engineers, broadcast executives, cable operators, satellite TV providers, the content creation community and other industry professionals will find these seminars of great value and packed with practical information.

Members of ATSC and members of the SBE may register at a discounted rate of $95. The non-member rate is $150.

Details of the September 27 seminar in Los Angeles and the November 13 seminar in Atlanta will be available soon. Attending this seminar at any of the three locations qualifies for one credit, identified under Category G of the Recertification Schedule, for SBE Certifications.

If you have questions regarding this seminar series, contact Kimberly Kissel at SBE via email or by phone at (317) 846-9000. You may also contact Lindsay Shelton-Gross at ATSC via email.

Local News

Lunati Leaving Town

Longtime San Diego broadcast and two-way tech Matt Lunati says he’s leaving San Diego for Yuma, Arizona. Besides participation in numerous broadcast projects through the years, he has extensive experience as a Motorola technician. Matt owns Combined Wireless and set up channel 7 on Mt. Woodson. He says he will continue to work with the station as a technical consultant. He has three amateur UHF repeaters on the air that he says he will continue to remotely control over IP.

Why the move? “I have been raised in San Diego most of my life and consider myself a native but I have noticed that San Diego has changed, not for the better and not for the worse. Lets say its changed….”

You can contact Matt at 928-554-7588, mattl@combinedwireless.com, or by mail at 11881 S.Fortuna Rd., Yuma, Az. 85367.

Society of Broadcast Engineers