The FCC in late June announced a week-long filing window for new Low Power FM station licenses for the entire band in early November 2023. This will be the first filing window since 2013. Interested parties are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the application process. You can monitor the FCC’s LPFM web page for more information. San Diego applicants should know that there’s no open spectrum and that power limitations that apply near the Mexican border make interference-free operations unlikely.
July Online Meeting: Eric Boldt from the National Weather Service
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.
Verify 13 GHz ENG Licenses in FCC ULS Now
The FCC has established GN Docket 22-352, titled Expanding Use of the 12.7-13.25 GHz Band for Mobile Broadband or Other Expanded Use. In this proceeding, the FCC has proposed repack and/or relocation of broadcast (and other) existing authorizations in the 12.7-13.25 GHz band. A forthcoming certification deadline for existing, incumbent 12.7-13.25 GHz broadcast licenses operating under Part 74 is outlined as part of this proceeding, but the FCC has not yet set the actual deadline by which such certifications must be filed. Accordingly, the SBE does not yet know when the FCC will require licensees to file such certifications or how well that date—as well as the requirements for making such certifications—will be communicated to licensees.
It is imperative that you verify all license data in the FCC’s Universal Licensing System (ULS) related to your 13GHz broadcast auxiliary services licenses as soon as possible. In addition, if you are currently using 13GHz for ENG, not fixed links, please notify SBE Frequency Coordination Manager RJ Russell at rjrussell@sbe.org of the licensee callsign and designated market area.
More information is available at https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-23-36A1.pdf, paragraphs 83-84 and 143-147 of which further explain the need to confirm the accuracy of ULS data for your 13GHz licenses and prepare to certify as accurate all information on such licenses that fall under Part 74.
The EAS Song
Some people can’t help but play with the artificial intelligence engine ChatGPT in ways that will make you cringe. Richard Rudman, EAS volunteer California State Emergency Coordination Committee Vice-Chair from Santa Paula sent us this little ditty he had ChatGPT compose. The best I can think of as a tune to sing it to is, “This Land is Your Land,” but the meter changes impossibly. Give it a go:
In the dead of night, when all is still,
A sound breaks through, a warning shrill,
It’s the Emergency Alert System, here to say,
Stay alert, stay safe, come what may.
(Chorus)
Oh, the Emergency Alert System,
A voice of caution, a call to listen,
When danger looms, it’s there to warn,
From storms to emergencies, day or morn.
(Verse 2)
Through the airwaves, the message spreads,
A lifeline in times of dread,
With its distinct tone and urgent plea,
It echoes across the land, for you and me.
(Chorus)
Oh, the Emergency Alert System,
A voice of caution, a call to listen,
When danger looms, it’s there to warn,
From storms to emergencies, day or morn.
(Bridge)
From tornadoes to floods, and everything between,
The EAS keeps us informed, a trusted machine,
With its alerts and updates, we stay aware,
In times of crisis, it shows it cares.
(Verse 3)
So let’s heed the call, when it rings out,
Follow the instructions, without a doubt,
For the Emergency Alert System is here,
To guide us through, to calm our fear.
(Chorus)
Oh, the Emergency Alert System,
A voice of caution, a call to listen,
When danger looms, it’s there to warn,
From storms to emergencies, day or morn.
(Outro)
So remember, my friend, when the sirens blare,
The Emergency Alert System is there,
To keep us safe, to keep us strong,
In unity, we’ll face whatever comes along.
June Online Meeting: KNBC Transmitter Engineer Dennis Doty Talks About His Years Atop Mount Wilson
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.