SBE CHAPTER 124 VIRTUAL MEETING

APRIL 14, 2020 WELCOME!

• Everett Helm, President • Agenda Items?

2 REPACK IMPACT AT SUTRO TOWER IN SAN FRANCISCO

PRESENTED TO SBE CHAPTER 124 APRIL 14, 2020

ERIC DAUSMAN, FORMER VP & COO A BRIEF 47 YEAR HISTORY

• The tower was completed in 1973 • The original 7 TV stations agreed to switch to the new antennas on July 4, 1973 • But the “tall tower” proposal was alive long before…

4 KGO-TV (ABC-7) BEGAN BROADCASTING IN 1949

5 COMPETING VIEWPOINTS

• KGO first filed for new tower near Mt. Sutro which would top out at 1811 feet AMSL in the mid-1950s. • KRON and others wanted a new tower at San Bruno Mt. which would top out at 2049 feet. • Initially, the “Air Coordinating Committee” approved the tower at San Bruno and denied the tower at Sutro.

6 COMPETING VIEWPOINTS

• However, the US Army filed objections to both. Ultimately, the Army removed its objections to the Sutro site. • In the end, the FAA approved construction of a tower at Sutro and turned down the tower at Bruno. • KGO was granted a CP on February 10, 1965 on the condition that it welcome other broadcasters. • Tower was approved by the SF Planning Commission under conditional review in 1969.

7 SUTRO TOWER, INC. FORMED • Incorporated in May of 1968 • Essentially operated as a co-op per FCC final R&O • TV rent is determined by a formula that takes into account expenses for the year and income from market-based tenants • All commercial TV stations, including owners, pay the same amount every year • Owners are allowed a return on equity based on similar real estate businesses in San Francisco • Harry Jacobs was appointed first General Manager

8 SUTRO TOWER CONSTRUCTION

• Designed by A. C. Martin Company • Fabricated by Kline Iron & Steel • Erected by Radio Construction Company • Construction started on February 23, 1971 • 3.5 million pounds of steel • Around 15 million pounds of concrete • 200,000 pounds of antennas • Broadcasting started on July 4th, 1973

9 ORIGINAL RENDERING & EARLY PHOTO

10 SUTRO BASIC SPECS

• Ground level is 834 feet AMSL • Top platform is 762 feet above ground • Three guyed towers or “stacks” spaced 100 feet apart • Three stacks are 215 feet high • Total tower is 977 feet high (1811 feet AMSL) • Useful main antenna aperture is 645 feet

• Currently, there are around 350 approved attachments

11 TOWER CONSTRUCTION 1972

12 COVER STORY--RCA BROADCAST NEWS--1973

13 THE TOWER IS MASSIVE

• Legs are 14 feet across • Concrete and steel anchor the tower into bedrock

14 BUILDING SPECS

• Around 30,000 square feet • Three stories tall • 12 individual transmission suites for TV • 4 for FM radio • 7 generators • Dual power feeds • Ancillary warehouse and security buildings

15 BUILDING EXTERIOR

• East face points downtown • A recent parapet project has updated the look

16 TYPICAL TV SUITE

17 TYPICAL FM SUITE

18 ORIGINAL BROADCASTERS

TV FM • KTVU (2) KCBS-FM • KRON (4) KFOG-FM • KPIX (5) KRON-FM • KGO-TV (7) KSFX-FM • KQED (9) • KQEC (32) • KBHK (44)

19 LATER BROADCASTERS

• KOFY (20) • KCNS (38) • KCSM (D43) • KFSF (66) • KEMO (D32)

20 FINAL ANALOG CONFIGURATION—1990’S

• Individual antennas for most stations • Channel 4 & 5 shared a single 6 bay batwing antenna

21 FIRST DTV TRANSITION

• Sutro installed four broad band companion channel antennas on a common mast below Level 6 • These digital channels operated through the transition with the analog channels KTVU-DT (56) KRON-DT (57) KPIX-DT (29) KGO-DT (24) KQED-DT (30) KOFY-DT (19) KMTP-DT (33) KCNS-DT (39) KBCW-DT (45) KFSF-DT (34) KCSM-DT (43)

22 “FIRST” ATSC-1 DTV CONFIGURATION

23 SECOND ATSC-1 DTV CONFIGURATION

• “Final” channels were authorized • In 2009, all three antenna stacks were modified • Two new UHF master antennas (3 channels, and 4 channels) • Four new single channel antennas (one VHF) • Two new aux UHF master antennas (5 channels each) • One new VHF Aux antenna • All old antennas were scrapped (Too bad. We might need low band again— stay tuned)

24 SECOND DTV TRANSITION CONFIGURATION

25 PRE-REPACK CONFIGURATION

26 REPACKING FUN

• Nine channels staying • Three will stay on Channel • Six will repack to a new Channel • Two will be on high VHF • Seven will be on UHF • And we will add a Channel 5!

27 REPACK MAYHEM

• The Widelity Report was right! • Yes, it truly is one of the most complicated sites in the Repack universe.

28 REVERSE AUCTION WINNERS

• 175 stations across the US received a total of around $10 Billion • 10 TV stations “won” in the Bay Area- • KEMO, KMTP, KOFY, KQEH, KTLN, KTNC, KTSF, and KEXT-CD • KRCB and KRON are moving to VHF • Broadband companies like Dish Network, T-Mobile, Comcast and others bought 70 MHz of spectrum for nearly $20 Billion • The US Treasury gets the difference, less repacking fees

29 WHO’S MOVING?

• 957 stations have or are in the process of repacking across the US • Seven at Sutro Tower • Largest payment—WWTO, Chicago @ $304 million • In the Bay Area, largest was KTNC @ $114 million • In all, the 10 Bay Area winners are collecting around $824 million

30 NEW “TV” BANDS

• Low Band VHF—54-88 MHz, Channels 2-6 • High Band VHF—174-216 MHz, Channels 7-13 • UHF—470-608, Channels 14-36 • Land mobile allocations on Channel 16 and 17 in Bay Area seem to be protected for now • FCC looking to get channels back, but proponents say there is no other place to go!

31 NEW 600 MHZ BAND

32 CURRENT SITUATION—MAIN ANTENNAS

33 FCC’S REPACKING TIMELINE

34 PROJECT SCOPE (JUST THE SUTRO PART)

• Install new 7 and 12 Aux antennas near between L5 and L6 • Replace B stack with all new steel • Replace KRON, KGO, and KBCW antenna • Replace combiners for main UHF antennas • Replace combiners for aux UHF antennas • Replace four runs of transmission line,--One 8”, two 6” and one 3”

35 PROJECT SCOPE (CONT.)

• New main and aux antennas for Channel 5 • Temporary main for KFOG • Replace Symphony with new WorldCast System • Structural Retrofit due to Building Code Changes

36 LEVEL 6 DRAWING

• Broadband antennas are good to go for new band plan • Three new main antennas on Stack B for KRON, KGO, and KBCW • Not shown KBCW temp antenna on Stack A under TUM A • New Channel 5 antenna for KRCB

37 LEVEL 4-6 DRAWING

• Add new auxiliary antennas for KRON and KGO • Temporary main for KNBR (FM)

38 LEVEL 3 TO 4 DRAWING

• UHF Aux antennas are good to go • New combiners needed to combine new channels

39 LEVEL 2 DRAWING

• Removed Channel 7 Aux • Move KNBR (formerly KFOG) Aux

40 STACK B DEMO

• Stack B (south) was all original steel except for the old KGO 7 antenna • It does not meet current codes

41 B STACK DEMO

• In August 2019, we started to disassemble the old Stack B

42 B STACK DEMO

• Piece by piece it all came down

43 B STACK-NEW

• New steel started going up in December 2019

44 B STACK-NEW

45 KRON 7 LIFT

• New KRON antenna weighs around 12,000 pounds

46 KGO BACK ON TOP!

• Around the end of January 2020 • Still need to add KBCW antenna • Still need to re-mount broad band FM antenna

47 MEANWHILE, IN THE BUILDING

• New transmitters were being installed • This required modified electric and HVAC

48 ALSO, ON THE ROOF

• Four UHF combiners were being replaced

49 MONITORING AKA “SYMPHONY”

• No longer supported

50 WORLDCAST CONTROL • RF safety lockout and VSWR monitoring • WorldCast Manager will monitor and control— • 38 RF switches • 6 RF patch panels • 22 transmitters • 5 combiners • 22 antennas • It took nearly a man year of labor to define the system and logic so WorldCast could begin coding

51 ECRESO SWITCH CONTROLLERS

52 WORLDCAST MANAGER

• Will talk to: • All controllers • Temperature sensors • Line pressure sensors • Forward and reflected power • Generators/UPS/HVAC • All via SNMP

53 OTHER FUN STUFF TO DEAL WITH

• Updated 2019 building codes require structural upgrade to the entire tower • ERI will be here most of 2020 reinforcing legs and trusses

54 PROJECT SPECIFICS • Three years of pre-planning and engineering before work started • 2018—Install new six transmission lines • 2019—Install VHF aux antennas, various mounts, start retuning of re-usable transmission lines, demo Stack B and begin re-installing new steel • 2020—Complete main antenna installs, begin year long structural upgrade project • Two tower crews will have worked around 75,000 man hours over the 3.5 year period • The seven Sutro TV repack stations will spend around $60 million

55 WHAT ABOUT ATSC-3?

• ATSC-3 has a higher peak to average voltage ratio due to the higher peak to average power ratio needed for COFDM • All antennas and transmission lines were analyzed for ATSC-3 safety factors • Antennas were redesigned as needed

56 WHAT ABOUT ATSC-3

• The FCC will allow stations to convert to ATSC-3 • It’s a complete change—8VSB to COFDM • Higher bit rate—Around 24 to approx. 25 Mbps • Better and move efficient codecs • Stations must “lighthouse” one ATSC-1 signal • Groups are getting together to make this happen • TV sets and converter boxes were shown at CES • Many station groups are ready to start ATSC-3 hosting in 2020

57 NEW JOB, NEW COMPANY

• I have joined Public Media Group. We are an infrastructure company focused on next generation technology including construction of SFNs, data centers, energy, etc. • I have been appointed Senior VP of RF Technology. My job is to help stations with ATSC-3 transitions and design of SFNs. • Please invite me back for more about ATSC-3 and how SFNs create new opportunity for broadcasters

58 PERSONNEL CHANGES AT SUTRO TOWER

Raul Velez Vice President and COO [email protected] 415-213-7800 www.sutrotower.com

59 CONTACT INFORMATION

Eric Dausman Senior VP of RF Technology [email protected] 503.380.0586

60 QUESTIONS?

61