April 1999 Newsletter
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Chapter 24, Inc. Madison, Wisconsin Next Meeting: Tuesday, April 27, 1999 Society of Broadcast Engineers April 1999 Local Elections TELECOM INDUSTRY NEWS and NAB Review By Neal McLain PSC SPLITS 414 ... AGAIN! J.T. Whitney's On March 16, the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC) ordered another split of area code 414. The split line essentially follows the Milwaukee 674 S. Whitney Way County line: Milwaukee County keeps 414 and the rest of what’s now 414 will get new area code 262. The actual split line follows telephone exchange boundaries as close to the Milwaukee County Line as possible (see figure). Dutch Treat Dinner at 5:30pm It’s only been two years since 414 was split the last time. That split, which created 920, was ordered in November, 1996, and became mandatory in Meeting and October, 1997. According to Ameritech’s Number Plan Administrator, that split was supposed to last eight years. It didn’t, and 414 is now “in jeopardy” again. Program That’s the official way of saying that it’s about to run out of central office codes. at 7:00pm OVERLAY VS. SPLIT Given the need for new number capacity within 414, the Commission didn’t have much choice about addressing the issue: it had to do something. The real question it faced was, how do we do it? In This Issue: Officially, the Commission considered five alternatives: Minutes .............................. page 2 • Two-way split Amateur Radio News ..... page 3 • Three-way split • All-services overlay FCC Rulemakings .......... page 3 • Wireless overlay • Number conservation SBE Short Circuits......... page 8 Of these alternatives, three were rejected immediately: Local Legals ..................... page 9 (continued on page 4) THE FCC UNDER FIRE FROM CONGRESS By Tom Smith Congress has also complained about to mergers, a look at broadcast ownership the White House involvement and rules including more restrictions on local On March 17th, all of the FCC influence in FCC and telecommunication marketing agreements for TV, and low Commissioners appeared before the policy. power FM. Many of the Congressional House Subcommittee on leaders want to loosen the ownership Telecommunications, Trade and They have complained the FCC has rules while Chairman Kennard would like Consumer Protection to make their annual not been implementing the to revisit some of the rules in light of all of report. They appeared as high-ranking Telecommunications Act of 1996 fast the consolidation. A number of members of both the House and Senate enough and that new competition in the Congressmen did send Chairman Committees that oversee the FCC were telecommunications industry, mainly Kennard a letter of support concerning criticizing Chairman William Kennard, and telephone, has not been increasing at a the low power FM action. recent actions of the FCC. Senator John fast enough rate. They also have McCain, Congressmen Billy Tauzin, and complained about items that Chairman At the March 17th hearing, the John Dingell have lead the attacks on the Kennard has either sought to or brought Commissioners outlined what they have FCC with other members joining in. Some before the Commission. They include done in the past year to implement the have even called for the abolishment of free airtime for candidates, the review Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the FCC or privatizing some of its functions. and attaching of public interest conditions (continued on page 9) SBE CHAPTER 24 NEWSLETTER PAGE 2 CHAPTER 24 March Business OFFICERS Meeting Minutes CHAIR: Chapter 24 of the Society of Broadcast Engineers met on Fred Sperry (Wis. Public TV) Tuesday, March 23, 1998, at J.T. Whitney's restaurant in Madison, W - 264-9806 FAX - 264-9646 Wisconsin. There were 17 persons in attendance, including 15 [email protected] members (12 certified). John L. Poray, CAE, Executive Director of the SBE, was one of the members present. VICE-CHAIR: Kevin Ruppert (WISC-TV) The meeting was chaired by Chapter 24 Chair Fred Sperry. W - 271-4321 Call to order: 7:10 pm. Sperry introduced Poray. On unanimous [email protected] voice vote, the minutes of the February meeting were approved as published in the March Newsletter. SECRETARY: Treasurer’s Report (reported by Chapter Treasurer Stan Lloyd Berg (WHPN-TV) Scharch): the chapter balance is in the black. Newsletter Editor’s W - 270-5700 Report (reported by Newsletter Editor Mike Norton): The deadline [email protected] for the April Newsletter is midnight 4/9/98; the folding party is 5:30 pm 4/14/98 at WKOW-TV. TREASURER: Stan Scharch (WISC-TV) Sustaining Membership Report (reported by Fred Sperry): W - 271-4321 Recent renewals include Maney Logic and Clark Wire & Cable. [email protected] The Chapter now has 26 sustaining members. Program Committee: The April meeting will include elections COMMITTEE APPOINTEES for the upcoming year, and the annual NAB Convention roundup. At the May meeting, Neal McLain will present “EAS/Cable,” a Program Committee: repeat talk he had given last summer at the 1998 Wisconsin Mark Croom 271-1025 Broadcasters Association meeting. Denise Maney 277-8001 Kerry Maki 833-0047 Certification and Education (reported by Jim Hermanson): Steve Zimmerman 274-1234 The deadline for the examinations to take place at the NAB Convention has passed. The next local examinations will take Membership and Past-Chair: place in June. Paul Stoffel Frequency Coordination Report (reported by Tom Smith): [email protected] Most current activity relates to wireless microphones. Sustaining Membership: Fred Sperry Nominations Committee Report (reported by Steve Paugh): a number of people have indicated in interest in running for office. Special Events: Kevin Ruppert Any Chapter members wishing to run for office is encouraged to contact a member of the Nominations Committee. Certification and Education: Jim Hermanson 836-8340 Old Business: Steve Paugh reported on the Chapter’s planned [email protected] activities in connection with the Engineering Expo. The Expo is sponsored by the University of Wisconsin College of Engineering, Tim Trendt (UW-Platteville) and will take place on campus April 16-18. The Chapter plans to sponsor a booth and a DTV demonstration. Paugh explained Frequency Coordination: the planned schedule, and recruited volunteers to staff the booth. Tom Smith W - 263-2174 [email protected] New Business: Sperry reported on efforts by a company to obtain equipment inventories from participating broadcast National SBE Chapter Liaison: stations, through local SBE chapters. Leonard Charles W - 271-4321 FAX - 271-1709 Announcements: Leonard Charles announced that WISC-TV was hosting an exhibit of Sony DTV equipment on March 24. SBE [email protected] members were invited to attend. (continued on next page) PAGE 3 April 1999 1FCC FCC Rulemakings AMATEUR RADIO NEWS Compiled By Tom Smith By Tom Weeden, WJ9H PROPOSED The Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) of France wants to put some distance between itself and the latest, soon-to-be-launched mini- MM Docket No. 99-25; RM-9208; Sputnik satellite, which reportedly will transmit messages on behalf of RM- 9242 Creation of Low Swatch, a Swiss watchmaker. AMSAT-Russia, with help from the Russian Power Radio Service Space Flight Control Center (SCSC), had contracted with AMSAT-France last December to design and fabricate an RF module and electronics for this The FCC has extended the latest mini-Sputnik. The new Sputnik-99 satellite will carry a 100-mW comment and reply periods on the transmitter and is expected to be hand-launched sometime this month Notice of Proposed Rulemaking during a space walk by Mir cosmonauts. It will be able to transmit up to 10 concerning the proposed new low different voice messages in addition to digital messages and telemetry. power FM service. The comment AMSAT-France later discovered that the SCSC had made a separate period has been extended from April commercial contract with the Swatch watch company to put its messages 12, 1999 to June 1, 1999, and the on the satellite. AMSAT-France has protested, citing contract provisions reply period has been extended prohibiting “direct advertising” on the air. The concept of commercial from May 12, 1999 to July 1, 1999. messages coming from an amateur radio satellite has touched off a This action is in response to petitions worldwide controversy with many hams threatening to boycott Swatch. from Lucent Digital Radio, the NAB, Others are threatening to jam the satellite by intentionally “legally” transmitting the Consumer Electronic on its 2-meter downlink frequency. Manufacturers Association, all of the state broadcasting associations, The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) will again have a booth at the and the Walt Disney Company. annual NAB Convention in Las Vegas, April 17-22. The NAB has donated the booth space, and volunteer hams from the Las Vegas area will staff the Adopted and released on March booth. Steve Scott, KD8S, of KVWB-TV, invites hams to use the Las Vegas 19, 1999. Amateur Radio Club’s repeaters on 146.94 and 449.700 MHz. “Local broadcasters, SBE Chapter 128, and club members will monitor the From FCC Notice (www.fcc.gov) repeaters and provide assistance as needed during the convention,” Scott says. Meeting Minutes An AM station in Florida was fined $7000 by the FCC for various (continued) technical violations including radiating an excessive signal on 1909 kHz— The business meeting was in the amateur 160-meter band. WINV in Inverness, FL also was cited for adjourned at 7:41 pm. The program EAS deficiencies and for not having its public file available. Well-known consisted of a discussion led by SBE Georgia ham Tom Rauch, W8JI, had noticed the spurious emission on 1909 Executive Director John Poray. The and contacted the station. “After four unsuccessful attempts to get them to discussion included a description of correct the problem, their switchboard operator said, ‘If we are bothering you the activities planned for the SBE way up in Georgia, why don’t you just call the FCC and quit calling us?’” National Meeting taking place in Rauch reported.