Past KNSD technical manager Randy Mickler died December 20 at the age of 56 after a long battle with cancer. According to his successor Dave MacKinnon, he had retired earlier in 2009. A San Diego Union-Tribune obituary said that Mickler had worked at channel 39 for 29 years and had received several Emmys for his creative work there. His wife Jane Clifford had achieved some notoriety herself as a columnist for the Union-Tribune.
January 2010 Meeting – Linear Acoustics
Ed Simeone, K6EGS, from Linear Acoustic will present a historical overview of previous attempts to control broadcast loudness at the monthly SBE Chapter 36 meeting on January 13. Ed will also deliver the latest news on the current state of the CALM Act as it winds its way through the legislative process. The meeting starts at 12:00 noon at TV Magic, 8112 Engineer Road, and will end around 1:30PM. Linear Acoustic will provide lunch. Call Eva Langer at 858-650-3155 with any questions
Chapter to Honor Bob Gonsett at December Banquet
Fallbrook broadcast engineering consultant Robert Gonsett was honored for “Lifetime Achievement” at the Chapter 36 December banquet. The dinner, at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel at Montgomery Field, had in attendance many of Bob’s local clients and friends.
Bob used his widely published CGC Communicator this fall to coordinate news regarding the Station Fire in Los Angeles that threatened the transmitter sites on Mt. Harvard and Mt. Wilson. Sometimes he sent multiple messages daily to assure word got out about road outages and progress of the fire’s front line.
A southern Californian resident from birth, Bob began his regional frequency measuring and spectrum analysis business in the early 1970s. He helped several FM stations shuffle frequencies or change facilities (or both) in order to improve their coverage while decreasing their RFR footprint. In Tucson, he was able to create a new, more accessible and better located radio transmission site from scratch. And he worked closely with Mexican authorities and broadcasters, including longtime client XETV, whom he convinced to change to circular polarity to improve rabbit ear antenna reception.
A special thanks to TV Magic and SCMS for helping to make this event a success. Chairwoman Gail Pineda and Program Chairwoman Eva Langer put substantial work into the event, including obtaining door prizes that walked away with several in attendance.
Four Pass Certification Exams
Three engineers from KGTV and one from Cox Media (cable channel 4) passed their SBE certification exams in November 2009. Congratulations to these newly certified engineers:
- Chief Engineer Andrew Lombard, KGTV, Certified Broadcast Television Engineer
- Andrew Cole, KGTV, Certified Broadcast Network Technologist
- Matt Schiller, KGTV, Certified Broadcast Technologist
- Shane Fortin, Cox Media, Certified Broadcast Technologist
Many thanks to Oscar Medina for proctoring these exams for the past 10 years. I will be taking on that job moving forward. Oscar and I had help with the November exams from Mike Curran. Chapter 36 now has 70 members, with 28 of those holding current certifications.
Local DTV Displacements Making Progress
San Diego low power TV stations are finally getting their digital tickets from the FCC.
- KSDX-LD was granted a license for 275 watts omnidirectional on channel 9 from Mt. San Miguel. The KRCA Spanish language repeater recently shutdown channel 29 analog, which confounded everyone with its co-channel broadcast only a few miles from Tijuana digital XHTIT.
- K61GH was granted a Special Temporary Authority to operate on channel 50 on November 5, 2009. The Mt. San Miguel station will operate a 15 kW ATSC station with a northerly beam about 90° wide.
- KDTF-LD was granted a Construction Permit for operation on channel 51 digital from Mt. San Miguel with 12.4 kW with a broad beam to the southwest meant to serve metro San Diego as well. This Entravision property has been tricasting not only their primary Telefutura network, but also subchannels containing their Univision and MyNetworkTV feeds.
- KBOP-CA applied for a displacement to move to channel 42 from channel 43 on Mt. San Miguel with 10 kW ERP with a medium width beam to serve metro San Diego to the west, with little energy in other directions.