Scott Fybush hasn’t been traveling very much this year, of course, but he still has plenty of interesting photos and stories to share in this latest installment of “Tower Sites I’ve Known and Photographed.” Is it really radio’s 100th anniversary year? That’s one of the topics in this edition—along with the steady decline of heritage AM sites, plenty of tales from the field and a few thoughts about what’s in store for the broadcast community in 2021.
Join us in an online narrative and slide show Tuesday, February 9th at 6:00 PM Pacific, 7:00 PM Mountain in cooperation with Chapters 9 in Phoenix and 47 in Los Angeles.
About Scott Fybush
Scott wears many broadcasting hats: a news anchor (now with WXXI Rochester) for 30 years; a journalist covering the industry for his own NorthEast Radio Watch (fybush.com) and Current; an engineering consultant focusing on signal improvement and FCC regulatory issues; a station broker (StationSale.com); chief engineer for Rochester’s WDKX; and treasurer of Chapter 57.
You might know Scott best as “the tower guy,” recognized for the thousands of broadcast facilities he’s visited and documented on his website and in his annual Tower Site Calendar, now in its 20th year.
Nemal Electronics will present Fiber Optics for HD Broadcast, with a live demo of fiber cleaning and testing. The 45-minute presentation covers basic fiber optic cable construction, termination types, testing, and practical applications in broadcast video, audio, and data.
Join us Wednesday, January 27, at 11:00 AM PST or 12:00 Noon MST.
Congratulations to Doug Alman for the renewal of his SBE Certified Broadcast Television Engineer (CBTE) certification in November 2020.
Congratulations to Chairman Tony McDaid for having passed his Cisco Certified Network Administrator (CCNA) test recently. Tony said about the venture, “For the CCNA I attended evening classes at San Diego Continuing Education. I would encourage anyone in broadcasting to take the classes. I also used the Boson practice test simulator.”
It’s never a bad time to work on your own certification, whether for Cisco, SBE, or CompTIA. You make yourself more employable, learn new skills, and walk away with a real achievement.
The new SBE Technical Professional Training (TPT) program began January 1, 2021 to help encourage and train new people in the broadcast/media technical field. Stations, station groups, networks and state broadcaster associations are encouraged to cover the $475 cost to sign up their new or newer engineers. The TPT includes SBE MemberPlus membership (gives access to all SBE webinars), one download of the SBE Certified Broadcast Technologist (CBT) CertPreview (exam prep software), SBE CBT exam session, a copy of the SBE Broadcast Engineer Handbook and participation in the SBE Mentor program. See the SBE website for details.
On Friday, December 11, the FCC granted a nearly three-year-old Minor Modification application by KFMB-TV channel 8 to increase power from 19.8 kW to 87.4 kW ERP. According to Rick Bosscher in 2017, the change was designed to help with over-the-air reception in households without external VHF antennas, a rarity these days. The change also used the limits of the existing transmitter and antenna systems. The FCC has been approving increases in VHF station power as long as interference zones are not greatly expanded.
