Following the FCC’s recent decision to authorize very low power (VLP) devices in the 6 GHz spectrum band, the Society of Broadcast Engineers has issued a regulatory alert to members and stations telling them to be aware of potential 6 GHz interference.

The 6 Ghz spectrum band plays a critical role in ENG and local newsgathering and the FCC's efforts to open up parts of that spectrum to unlicensed devices has prompted considerable opposition from broadcasters and the NAB in recent years. 

On March 8 FCC rules authorizing unlicensed very low power (VLP) devices in the 6 GHz spectrum band: 5.925-7.125 GHz took effect. 

The FCC has also said it is considering proposals to allow even greater VLP and LPI (low-power indoor) use in the band. 

“The SBE, the NAB, and others have expressed concern that the FCC's proposals to increase unlicensed use of the 6 GHz Band could introduce harmful interference to broadcasters' licensed electronic newsgathering (ENG) activities in the band,” the SBE said. “Interference and reduced margin in fixed BAS links (STLs, etc.) may also be a problem as Wi-Fi-6E devices become common. Consequently, we urge you to fully document the performance of any 6 GHz fixed links that your station may have (signal levels, margin to failure, error rates, etc.). We are also interested in hearing from anyone who has experienced interference in the 6 GHz Band that could be attributable to unlicensed devices.”

The SBE noted that the issue is also important because “The FCC is also actively considering proposals to allow even greater VLP and LPI (low-power indoor) use in the Band” and urged anyone who has “experienced interference to your ENG operations in the 6 GHz band over the past several months, please notify the SBE at BASinterference@sbe.org no later than April 17.”

The SBE also reminded members that “any interference should be reported via the FCC Interference Reporting portal.”

On February 7, 2024, the FCC added to 6 GHz band unlicensed rules by permitting very low power (VLP) devices in the U–NII–5 (5.925–6.425 MHz) and U–NII–7 (6.525–6.875 MHz) portions of the 6 GHz band. 

The FCC said that the rules, which took effect on March 8, will limit VLP devices to low power levels and subject them to other technical and operational requirements that will permit these devices to operate across the United States while protecting incumbent licensed services that operate in the 6 GHz band from harmful interference.

At the same time, the FCC also took action in a Memorandum Opinion and Order on Remand that addressed a remand from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit concerning issues of interference raised by television broadcasters. In that ruling, the FCC argued that “broadcasters' unsubstantiated claims of interference in the 2.4 GHz band do not warrant any changes to the 6 GHz rules,” according to the Federal Register in a summary of the decision and the new rules. 

The Federal Register also noted that “the rules the Commission is adopting are designed to support innovation to bring exciting new applications to market while protecting the important licensed services that operate in the 6 GHz band from harmful interference. At this time, the Commission is limiting VLP devices to the U–NII–5 and U–NII–7 bands because the technical record has mainly focused on the potential for interference to fixed microwave links which are the predominate uses of these portions of the 6 GHz band. The Commission plans on proposing to expand VLP device operation to the U–NII–6 and U–NII–8 portions of the band which support mobile operations.”

As the SBE noted, broadcasters, the SBE and the NAB have long disputed those arguments and have raised concerns about interference for a number of years. That makes it particularly important that broadcasters document cases of interference, the group said. 

The SBE released the following announcement today, commemorating the beginning of its 60th year:

With the start of the new year 2024, the Society of Broadcast Engineers, the association for broadcast and multimedia technology professionals, celebrates its 60th anniversary. 

Officially founded on April 4, 1964, the SBE has grown from its humble beginnings when about 100 broadcast engineers gathered for a meeting at the NAB Convention in Chicago to providing a leading role in broadcast and multimedia education, certification, professional networking, frequency coordination and advocacy for technical professional working at radio and TV station, production facilities and more.

The Society's roots stretch back to 1961, when the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) and American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) passed a joint resolution calling for a "merger or consolidation into one organization." The two groups did finally join forces in 1963 forming what is known today as the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).

The new organization was perceived by some as not addressing the needs of broadcast engineers. Because of the interest shown in response to an editorial in Broadcast Engineering magazine, written by eventual first SBE President John Battison, the organizational meeting held in 1964 formed an organization devoted to the needs and interests of broadcast engineers that now is celebrating its 60th anniversary.

With members around the world, local SBE chapters provide services to members through meetings, technical seminars, certification examinations and fellowship.

Throughout 2024, the SBE will mark the event in its bi-monthly newsletter, The Signal, on the SBE website, in social media posts, and with in-person events at the 2024 NAB Show. A special SBE Certification project will also be announced shortly to commemorate the Diamond anniversary. The celebration will continue at the 2024 SBE National Meeting, which will be held in the fall.

"A landmark anniversary is certainly a time to look back, but it's also an opportunity to look to the future," said SBE President Ted Hand, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, ATSC3, DRB. He added, "The SBE will continue to move forward in education, certification, government and industry advocacy, frequency coordination and other areas to serve the needs of broadcast engineers and multimedia technology professionals everywhere."

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.—The Society of Broadcast Engineers has announced the results of the 2021 election for the national board of directors and that Andrea Cummis, CBT, CTO, has been elected as the society's president. 

Cummis, who is the chief technical officer of PBS39/WLVT-TV, in Bethlehem, Penn., is the first woman to be elected to hold the office. She is a member of SBE Chapter 15 in New York City.

“I look forward to serving the Society and its members,” president elect Cummis said. “President Wayne Pecena has led the society through an interesting and unusual time, and as everyone looks forward to a return to normal, I'm pleased that the society is still growing and thriving. I’m eager to work with the Board of Directors and the membership so we can expand our membership and outreach to the media professionals among us.”

Others serving one-year terms as officers, which begin on Oct. 11, 2021, are:

• Vice President: Ted Hand, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, ATSC3, DRB; Chapter 45 Charlotte; Charlotte, N.C.
• Secretary: Kevin Trueblood, CBRE, CBNT; Chapter 90 Southwest FL; Ft. Myers, Fla.
• Treasurer: Jason Ornellas, CBRE, CRO; Chapter 43 Sacramento; Sacramento, Calif.

Serving two-year terms on the board of directors, which also begin Oct. 11 are: 

• Zhulieta Ibisheva, CBTE, CBT; Chapter 50 Hawaii; Honolulu, Hawaii
• Jeff Juniet, CBTE; Chapter 42 Central Florida; Casselberry, Fla.
• Charles “Ched” Keiler, CPBE, 8-VSB, CBNE; Chapter 53 South Florida; Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
• Geary S. Morrill, CPBE, AMD, CBNE; Chapter 91 Central Michigan; Saginaw, Mich.
• David Ratener, CPBE, CBNT; Chapter 16 Seattle; Seattle, Wash.
• Dan Whealy, CBTE; Chapter 96 Rockford; Sumner, Iowa

The national board of directors of the SBE is responsible for the development of policy and determines the programs and services the society provides to its more than 5,000 members. Those elected will begin their terms on Oct. 11, 2021, during the SBE Membership Meeting and Awards Presentation. They will join the other six directors who have another year remaining in their terms: 

• Stephen Brown, CPBE, CBNT; Chapter 80 Fox Valley; Appleton, Wisc.
• Roswell Clark, CPBE, CBNT; Chapter 39 Tampa Bay Area; Clearwater, Fla.
• Kirk Harnack, CBRE, CBNE; Chapter 103 Nashville; Nashville, Tenn.
• Thomas McGinley, CPBE, AMD, CBNT; Chapter 16 Seattle; Missoula, Mont.
• Shane Toven, CPBE, DRB, CBNE; Chapter 43 Sacramento; Antelope, Calif. 
• Fred Willard, CPBE, 8-VSB, CBNT; Chapter 37 District of Columbia; Washington, DC

Wayne Pecena, CPBE, 8-VSB, ATSC3, AMD, DRB, CBNE, of College Station, Texas, continues serving on the board as immediate past president.

Congratulations to Megan Clappe, who has just been raised to the cherished membership rank of Fellow by the Society of Broadcast Engineers.

As many of the society’s members know well, Clappe is director of SBE certification, which is such a key part of what SBE does for our industry.

“Megan’s daily duties include working with the SBE Certification Committee to operate and grow the SBE Certification Program, which includes implementing and maintaining certifications to match those needs,” the society said in its announcement.

“She coordinates testing with proctors, and all follows up after exams are administered. In all, she is tasked with keeping track of more than 5,000 certifications and recertifications.”

She also provides SBE member and chapter certification support, manages the SBE Awards Program; manages the SBE convention and expo presence; and oversees the SBE Store.

“During her employment as certification director, the SBE Certification Committee has introduced several levels of certification, including CBNE, DRB and ATSC3,” it continued. “The SBE Certification Handbook for Radio Operators has been updated at least twice, and The SBE Television Operator’s Certification Handbook has been updated once. The CertPreview practice test software has been redeveloped once and is slated for a second later this year during her time as director.”

Megan Clappe began her tenure at SBE as certification assistant and receptionist in 2003, working with Linda Baun, who was the certification director at the time. When Baun left in 2006 to work at the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, Clapp took the certification reins.

Sample comments about Clappe’s work, released by the society, include “quick to offer alternative ideas and processes … When the pandemic hit in early 2020 Megan was first to offer an alternative to face-to-face testing.” … “The flue that holds the program together.” “Dedication and determination” in helping launch ATSC3 certification. … “Her contribution to the SBE’s Certification program [is] conspicuous.”

Clappe will be recognized during the SBE Membership Meeting and National Awards Program in October in Las Vegas during the society’s national meeting.

INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers has announced that it will conduct its 2021 SBE Leadership Development Course from June 8-10 in person in Atlanta. The SBE event may be one of the first in-person industry events to take place since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic last March.

The SBE Leadership Development Course is a three-day study of leadership and management strategies to help broadcast engineers. The course will look at the nature of leadership, the difference between a manager and being a leader, how to build a winning team, the importance of attitude in the leadership position, communication insights and more, according to SBE.

The course is designed for broadcast engineers who have or aspire to have management responsibilities.

Rodney Vandeveer, professor of Organizational Leadership and Supervision at Purdue University, will be instructing the course for the 13th time.

Nearly all industry events have gone virtual since the pandemic. However, as vaccine rollouts continue, there is hope that in-person events can resume in the coming months. NAB is expecting that its rescheduled October NAB Show will once again be in-person in Las Vegas, for instance.

When asked to comment on any contingency plans in case there are ongoing issues to the pandemic, SBE Member Communications Director Chriss Scherer provided the following statement:

"While no one can predict exactly the situation for June, we have set May 4, 2021, as a go/no-go date. If the course needs to be cancelled or postponed, the SBE will refund any registration fees received. While the SBE registration fee can be paid now with no risk, the SBE suggests making travel arrangements as late as possible to ensure the class will be held to avoid any cancellation or change fees.

"The Leadership Development Course is designed to be taught in-person. The class participants engage with each other, and small-group breakouts are common. There currently isn't a plan to conduct the class in a virtual environment.

"Naturally, the SBE will keep any registrations up to date on the event plans as the date approaches."

The 2021 SBE Leadership Development Course will be held at the Hyatt Place Atlanta South. A special rate for room reservations can be made up until May 9. The cost of the event is $670 for SBE members, $725 for non members. For more information, or to register, visit www.sbe.org.  

INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers threw a surprise party Thursday for departing Executive Director John Poray.

“You taught us how to be an organization,” veteran engineer Fred Baumgartner told Poray during a Zoom meeting attended by more than 75 people.

The group included numerous past presidents of the society, current and past board members and committee leaders, representatives from state broadcast associations, and friends and Poray family members.

Poray was SBE’s first full-time executive director and has been with the society since 1992.

He began his career with the Boy Scouts of America’s Central Ohio Council and went on to work for Kiwanis International, The Apartment Association of Indiana and The Columbus Apartment Association.

Among those on the call were two engineers who interviewed Poray for the job 28 years ago, Rick Farquhar and Fred Baumgartner.

Poray told the online gathering that when he joined, he figured he might stay in the job for four or five years.

“I’ve never been with a group that enjoys their work so much,” Poray said. “You like what you do, it’s part of you. That really rubs off.”

Poray noted that he is not an engineer but that he shared interests of many SBE members, having DXed as a boy and collected QSL cards.

Society veterans on the call praised Poray for his administrative abilities, good ideas and efforts to provide stability and growth for the organizations.

One said that when he became an SBE officer, his predecessor told him, “It’s an easy job. Just do what John tells you and you’ll be fine.”

New Executive Director James Ragsdale comes on board in January.

INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers has developed the Technical Professional Training Program in response to the increasing average age and tenure of technical professionals in the broadcast industry and the long term need to find new talent.

With streamlining workforces, consolidation of ownership and a reduction in electronic technology programs at trade schools and colleges, the past avenues for training new technical professionals are shrinking, per SBE. Drawing on its existing programs, SBE’s new training program has the specific goal of training new entrants to the field of broadcast technology.

There are four key elements that make up SBE’s Technical Professional Training Program:

• SBE’s webinar collection that is available on-demand; 
• The SBE Engineering Handbook, a reference volume for hands-on use in designing and maintaining technical facilities; 
• The SBE Mentor Program, which provides new entrants with regular access and guidance from seasoned professionals; and 
• The SBE Certification Program entry-level certification that demonstrates a comprehension of regulatory and technical requirements of station operation 

The SBE Technical Professional Training Program is a new membership option that will include all of the above elements and is designed to be deployable by group broadcasters, independent broadcasters and state broadcaster associations. Stations and media outlets can acquire the membership option for $475. 

“The TPTP simplifies the steps to engage someone new to the technical career path in broadcasting and media,” said Geary Morrill, SBE Education Committee chair. “This bundles the individual membership and education offerings to help broadcast and media outlets engage the next generation of technicians.”

For more information, visit www.sbe.org.  

The Society of Broadcast Engineers has an incoming executive director, a new website and a pending new technical training program, among other notable changes.

TVT's sister publication Radio World caught up with Wayne Pecena, recently elected to a second term as president of SBE, to ask him about its priorities in coming months.

The non-profit society is based in Indianapolis. Pecena is associate director of educational broadcast services at Texas A&M University, which operates the KAMU (FM/TV) public broadcast stations. Appropriately for an SBE leader, he has a lengthy string of certifications including CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, DRB and CBNE; and he is a past recipient of the Radio World Excellence in Engineering Award.

Upon reelection, Pecena noted that the industry and broadcast engineers “have experienced change and challenge like never before. I want to ensure the society brings a sense of normalcy to our members,” through its professional development continuing education, certification and frequency coordination programs.

This conversation includes reference to the pending retirement of John Poray, SBE’s first and only full-time executive director since 1992. James Ragsdale, a former finance executive at Anderson University in Indiana, will succeed Poray in January.

Radio World: This has been a year like no other. Has there been an effect on the society’s activities?

Wayne Pecena: Certainly we have been impacted, while at the same time many things are normal.

The SBE office has remained open throughout the pandemic — granted, in a modified form, observing the restrictions placed by the state of Indiana and the city of Indianapolis. But the office is open and functioning, with all programs ongoing.

We’d been doing webinars for some time. Like a lot of organizations, we were already in that virtual environment, so it wasn’t necessary to hurry and ramp up. But certainly we have increased that.

We have seen phenomenal engagement from our members in the webinars. As of last month we had twice as many participants as the year before, and we haven’t gotten to the end of the year yet.

Obviously our in-person events have been canceled, whether it’s an SBE-only event or related ones — the NAB Show being the biggie that a lot of our in-person outreach is centered around.

Many of our local chapters have gone to a virtual meeting environment. That’s a blessing and a curse, in some ways; everyone probably prefers that in-person fellowship and networking at a chapter meeting. But [we’ve seen] increased attendance in some larger areas where it’s just not easy to get across town to a 7 p.m. chapter meeting; that travel can be significant.

I know I have enjoyed attending many local chapter meetings because of Zoom around the country.

RW: It seems like in the last year or two, there’s been a real mushrooming of resources made available to your members.

Pecena: Since day one of the SBE, professional development, continuing education, has been a priority. And as technology changes rapidly it creates opportunity for further programs.

Even before the COVID pandemic, we had been aggressively ramping up, particularly, our webinar programs. Those have been most popular with our members. You can attend at a prescribed date and time for that live presentation, but we see far more participation on-demand. Those are recorded and available to our members.

The feedback that we get from those programs is very positive.

RW: I understand you’ve got an updated IP networking series coming.

Pecena: That is just one of the webinars planned.

One of the things that we have seen, not just in IP networking, is a need for more in-depth content. There’s a limit to what you can do in a webinar session, which we try to keep to an hour to an hour and 15 minutes.

So for many topics — beginning with our RF 101 series and advanced RF series, a lot of the IP content — we’ve gone to multiple part webinars. There’s an AoIP series that, gosh, I’ve lost count of the number of parts, six to seven, maybe even eight parts.

That’s how we’re addressing more advanced topics, to have enough time to address those topics but at the same time break them into manageable chunks of time. You could offer a full-day, eight=hour seminar, but there’s not many broadcast engineers who have that kind of time to sit in front of the computer.

RW: You have a pretty big change with John Poray retiring as executive director, and Jim Ragsdale coming in. How do you feel about John leaving?

Pecena: Certainly his announcement was a surprise; at the same time it was not a surprise. From the board aspect, we knew that John was going to be retiring soon, but when that announcement came at the first of this year, it still was a shock now that we had a date in front of us.

John has been the face of SBE for 28 years. A lot of growth has occurred over that time, from the office staff that keeps everything running, to the number of programs that are offered. It’s never enjoyable to lose someone with John’s tenure and experience and of course his dedication to the society.

Early in his career, when he came to SBE, he thought he’d probably be at SBE for five years and then move on to the next step up. And here we are 28 years later and he’s still with us.

We offer John sincere thanks and congratulations for his dedication to SBE and everything that he has done. I think it’s safe to say there’s not a program offered through SBE that does not have his personal touch on it in one way or the other. He’s a very engaged leader.

I suppose if you’re going to retire, there’s probably a good time to do that: when things are pretty good. Yes, we have some challenges that the industry presents and the COVID situation has presented. But we have a society that is in sound financial shape. We have successful programs. We have a dedicated and supportive staff that takes care of all of that day-to-day stuff.

If you’re going to say goodbye to 28 years, this is probably a good time to leave, at the top of things.

RW: How did the search go and what struck you about Jim Ragsdale?

Pecena: Our response from potential candidates was a little overwhelming; I personally had felt that if we got maybe 10 applications we’re going to be good, and we had pushing 30. So then we had a different challenge in front of us. How do we weed through this?

We had a dedicated committee led by Joe Snelson, a former SBE president and [who has experience in] the corporate environment. He did a really good job in leading that effort.

We boiled things down to three candidates and engaged in face-to-face interviews in Indianapolis. The three candidates were uniquely different but all viable for the position.

Jim was chosen unanimously by the committee. He did his homework on the SBE. He brought the best perspective of looking ahead. Granted, he was from outside the industry, but at the same time, he had ties to the broadcast industry through family members who were engaged in broadcasting for many years, and he brought solid financial management strengths, particularly in a nonprofit environment, as well as solid reference evaluations from previous roles.

Everyone felt he was that right fit for SBE.

RW: What should we look for from SBE in coming months?

Pecena: I think we step back and take a new breath and give Jim Ragsdale a time to get acclimated. We have several new programs that are launching, I don’t want to remotely suggest we’re just going to stop doing things; but give Jim an opportunity to get up to speed, making his own evaluations. He brings a solid financial background and [can make] his own assessments with that.

And this is strictly a personal feeling, but we probably need to revisit our strategic planning efforts. In our last event about three years ago, we came up with a plan, and many of the aspects of that plan have been implemented. You’ve noticed the new website, for instance; the need for that was identified in that strategic plan.

What was also identified but frankly has not happened has been some of our expanded outreach activities engaging in other related organization’s activities — whether it’s a state broadcast conference or local chapter events. Of course with the COVID situation, that kind of stuff went away.

So I think once he gets a solid footing by mid year, we need to reevaluate our strategic plan. Not necessarily do it all over again, though maybe that’s the best way to do it. In today’s fast changing environment. I’m not sure doing strategic planning every five years is the right time. Maybe it should be shortened a little bit.

Our focus, I think, will continue to be on education certification, our frequency coordination activities that are going on. You don’t necessarily hear a lot about frequency coordination, because it’s going on in the background, but there’s a lot of work that goes into that, particularly with the Department of Defense contract that SBE is involved in.

RW: The direction of membership trends is down over time.

Pecena: Yes it is down, That was a big focus of our last strategic planning effort — ways to increase that membership, and that was the basis of our outreach program.

We still need to focus on the increasing membership.

RW: We’ve seen a lot of attention in the national discussion over diversity, and as we’ve reported, radio engineering in the United States certainly has not got a lot of racial diversity, or age diversity for that matter. What role, if any, does the SBE have in this discussion?

Pecena: That is an aspect that needs to be on our radar. I’ll just say, it honestly has not been a dedicated focus. We have been focused more broadly on increasing our membership by providing desirable, needed services to our members regardless of race or demographic background. I think we have some more fundamental things to work on before we dedicate our resources to a specific area. That’s my personal feeling.

We are working too on revamping our international program, with a new committee chair who is going to take a look at that aspect; that brings more of an international perspective.

RW: SBE has always kept a voice on Capitol Hill when there are technical issues being discussed. Are there things that SBE is following closely in Washington that we should know about?

Pecena: Certainly I think that “spectrum grabs” will continue, and we continue to comment.

When the December SBE Signal newsletter comes out, there’ll be a piece that Chris Imlay wrote regarding some actions questioning the ethics of broadcast engineers in general. I think he’s done a really good job of responding to that.

We’ll continue to do our best to help the SBE make good decisions. A lot of times decisions are made without the true technology impact [being considered]. We’ll do our best to keep our opinions in front of those FCC staffers.

RW: The 2021 calendar already looks different with no spring NAB Show. How are your events and meetings affected?

Pecena: Historically the SBE has two major in-person events a year, the first centered around the NAB in the spring, and then the national meeting, which occurs in the fall, typically in conjunction with a regional broadcasting event. This year it was to be Chapter 22’s Broadcast and Technology Expo in Syracuse, N.Y.

With everything shuffling around and the NAB moving to an October show next year, it was not felt we could do both of those within three weeks; so the 2021 NAB will feature our traditional “NAB events” with that national meeting and awards presentation, which of course this year were done virtually.

It looks good on paper today. We’ll see how things work out.

Everyone is hopeful that we can get back to some in-person events at some point. One of the things we’re always excited to do is our regional Ennes workshops. Outside of one early this year, they were all canceled, so I’m hopeful that at some point in 2021, we can get back to those in-person regional Ennes workshops around the country. We have several chapters or state broadcast associations that are interested in that.

INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) has announced its new ATSC3 Specialist Certification.

Developed by the SBE Certification Committee under the leadership of Ralph Hogan and with the assistance of the Advanced Television Systems Committee, the ATSC3 Specialist Certification is good for five years before it must be renewed or a higher certification successfully achieved, the society said.

Certification testing will be made available for the first time in February 2021. The deadline to register is Dec. 31, 2020, SBE said. 

"The SBE is grateful to the ATSC for its help in assembling the exam question pool," said Hogan. "As is the practice in creating any level of SBE Certification, a group of subject matter experts is consulted."

Creating an ATSC3 Specialist Certification was conceived in 2018. Since then the certification committee has worked closely with key members of ATSC to determine suitable information to include in the exam. It also worked with several SBE members who have direct experience installing 3.0 systems, SBE said.

Based on the input, the committee forms a set of questions that were beta tested, reviewed, adjusted and subjected to more beta testing. The final pool of questions covers a mix of practical application and technology standards topics, the society said.

Like all other SBE Certification exams, the questions for the ATSC3 Specialist test will be reviewed on an ongoing basis to make sure the information covered is relevant and current, SBE said.

"I … extend my thanks to the ATSC members who helped in the exam development process,” said ATSC President Madeleine Noland. “As the foremost experts on ATSC 3.0, their contributions were invaluable. I was also continually impressed by the SBE’s methodical exam development process, ensuring that the exam would fairly and accurately assess a candidate’s understanding of ATSC 3.0. Individuals who successfully pass the exam will have earned a truly meaningful certificate."

More information is available on the SBE website. 

INDIANAPOLIS—A welcome surprise awaits visitors to the Society of Broadcast Engineers webpage: a modern, sophisticated, redesigned website—with a cheery bouncing SBE logo—that is both pleasing to the eye and easier to navigate.

The redesign includes new drop-down items that break key SBE areas into easy-to navigate silos, from a section on education to one on certification to another on membership. A scrolling layout in the news and headlines section highlights personnel announcements, scholarship recipients, regulatory deadlines and updates on the organization’s national convention.

The catalyst for the new website redesign came from the last SBE strategic planning effort held in 2018, said Chriss Scherer, member communications director for the Society of Broadcast Engineers. Previously, updates and enhancements had been added in here and there, which resulted in more workarounds as website technology management evolved.

This redesign gives SBE a fresh start and gives the organization greater flexibility going forward, he said.

The most notable change is obviously the look, Scherer said, which is cleaner and more streamlined. Another significant change goes on behind the scenes and is invisible to users. “The new site is built on a content management system,” he said. “With the CMS approach, the site is now optimized for use across multiple device platforms: web browser, tablet and mobile.”

INDIANAPOLIS—After a lengthy search process that began in March, the Society of Broadcast Engineers Board of Directors has approved the appointment of James Ragsdale, effective Jan. 1, 2021. He will replace current Executive Director John Poray who will retire at the end of this year. Poray has served in this position for 28 years.

In a statement, SBE President Wayne Pecena said, "Following all the extensive work by many people to arrive at the final selection of Jim Ragsdale to be the SBE's new executive director, I welcome Jim and look forward to working with him to continue furthering the goals of the SBE and providing superior services to our members. 

Most recently, Ragsdale was the vice president for finance at Anderson University where he managed the operational budget for the private, liberal arts education institution, participated as member of the university president's leadership team, and oversaw the business office, human resources, physical plant, police and security and auxiliary services.

Prior to that he was the senior financial analyst at Ascension Technologies, where he managed the operational and capital budgets for Indiana Market and St. Vincent Health system. Other career work includes treasurer and controller at Church of God Ministries and practice administrator at Anderson Family Practice Associates.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.—The Society of Broadcast Engineers’ Ennes Educational Foundation Trust has awarded five scholarships for 2020. The recipients were chosen from applications received by July 1, 2020, from the previous 12 months.

The Harold E. Ennes Scholarship, Robert D. Greenberg Scholarship, John H. Battison Founder's Scholarship and newly created Gino Ricciardelli Scholarship are awarded to individuals interested in pursuing or continuing an education in broadcast engineering and technology. The Youth Scholarship is specifically for a graduating high school senior interested in broadcast engineering as a career. Each scholarship awarded this year is for $2,500.

SBE President Wayne Pecena, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, DRB, CBNE, said, “The SBE has an ongoing focus on education, and the Ennes Scholarships are yet another piece of the overall education effort. We look forward to seeing the great progress of these five budding engineers as they further their education goals with the assistance of the Ennes Educational Foundation Trust.”

Recipients of the scholarships are:

Harold E. Ennes Scholarship—Chris Gamelin of Middletown, Conn.

Robert D. Greenberg Scholarship—Jon Sanelli of Albertson, N.Y.

John H. Battison SBE Founder's Scholarship—Ismail Otu, CRO, CTO, Charlotte, N.C.

Gino Ricciardelli Scholarship—Sadie Levy, New York

Youth Scholarship—Isaiah Dickson, Brookhaven, Pa.

INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers has tallied the votes and determined that Wayne Pecena has been re-elected to serve a second term as the society’s president.

Pecena, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, DRB, CBNE, is the associate director of educational broadcast services at Texas A&M University, which operates the KAMU FM & TV public broadcast stations. He is a member of SBE Chapter 99 in College Station, Texas.

“I look to my second term as our industry and our personal lives have experienced change and challenge like never before,” Pecena said. “I want to ensure the Society brings a sense of normalcy to our members. This uniformity is accomplished through our professional development continuing education, certification and frequency coordination programs, while making the right decisions for change in the future to insure continued value to our members.”

Other results from the election included Andrea Cummis, CBT, CTO of Chapter 15 New York, Roseland, N.J., being elected as vice president; Kevin Trueblood, CBRE, CBNT of Chapter 90 Southwest Fla., Ft. Myers, Fla., as secretary; and Ted Hand, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, DRB of Chapter 45 Charlotte, Charlotte, N.C., as treasurer. All were elected to one-year terms that will start on Sept. 23.

Jim Leifer, CPBE, of Andover, Md., continues as immediate past president.

The following individuals were elected to two-year terms on the SBE Board of Directors, also starting Sept. 23:

• Stephen Brown, CPBE, CBNT; Chapter 80 Fox Valley, Appleton, Wis. 
• Roswell Clark, CPBE, CBNT; Chapter 39 Tampa Bay Area, Clearwater, Fla. 
• Kirk Harnack, CBRE, CBNE; Chapter 103 Nashville, Nashville, Tenn. 
• Thomas McGinley, CPBE, AMD, CBNT; Chapter 16 Seattle, Missoula, Mont. 
• Shane Toven, CBRE, CBNT; Chapter 43 Sacramento, Antelope, Calif. 
• Fred Willard, CPBE, 8-VSB, CBNT; Chapter 37 District of Columbia, Washington, D.C. 

The national board of directors for SBE is responsible for the development of policy and determines the programs and services the society provides to its members.

For more information, visit www.sbe.org.  

INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers want the FCC to extend the deadline broadcasters eligible for C-band transition lump sum payments have to make the decision on whether or not they will take that process of reimbursement by a month.

The FCC is preparing the C-band auction—which will have current operators in the 3.7-4.0 MHz band of the spectrum relocate to the upper 200 MHz as the FCC makes the 3.7-3.98 MHz band available for 5G and wireless services development—for a Dec. 8 starting date. As part of the reimbursement process for stations forced to vacate their spot, the commission has a lump sum payment option that would be based on the average relocation costs of earth stations.

The FCC released its final cost catalog that details the lump sum payment amount and what is covered by it on July 30. A deadline of Aug. 31 was set for eligible operators to opt in to receive the lump sum payment.

PLUS: ACA Connects Calls for C-Band Lump Sum Reconsideration

However, SBE does not believe that a month is enough time for broadcasters and broadcast engineers to evaluate, prepare and submit their election for lump sum payments in what it calls a “complex calculation,” and as a result has asked for an extension until Sept. 30. SBE believes that such an extension would not impact the Dec. 8 start date for the auction, nor the first relocation deadline of Dec. 5, 2021.

“SBE will continue to educate its members about this process, the timetables and the necessary steps to take to ensure a smooth transition, but the commission has, simply stated, provided an inadequate amount of time for broadcast engineers and broadcasters, and other C-band earth station operators who are entitled to reimbursement for costs incurred in the repack to make the necessary determinations, evaluate their options and to complete the election process,” the SBE filing reads. 

All of this, the organization points out, has only been made more difficult during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

The complete SBE filing can be found through the FCC’s ECFS. 

INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers has announced that its 56th SBE National Meeting, which was scheduled to take place in Liverpool, N.Y., from Sept. 22-23, has been changed to a virtual event because of restrictions related to COVID-19.

The annual meeting was to be held in conjunction with SBE 22 Broadcast & Technology Expo, a regional event that would have included a media equipment and services tradeshow, as well as a series of technical sessions. While the national meeting will still take place, the tradeshow has been cancelled.

The virtual version of the event will combine the SBE Annual Membership Meeting with the awards ceremony that would have been part of the Annual SBE National Awards Dinner, with the new date set for Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. ET. The will include the induction of officers and directors that are expected to be elected in August, the presentation of individual and chapter awards, and the induction of two SBE Fellows, James Leifer, CPBE, and Ralph Beaver, CBT.

The SBE Board of Directors will meet virtually on Sept. 22 at 6 p.m. ET.

In addition, the annual Fellows Breakfast will be held virtually on Sept. 23 at a time to be announced later.

Details on how to watch the virtual events will be shared on the SBE website, SBE-news email newsletter and social media. 

INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers announced that it will be accepting applications for the position of executive director through June, as the organization has posted the position to several job boards that cater to those working in the association/nonprofit sector.

John Poray, who had been SBE’s executive director for 28 years, is expected to retire on Dec. 31. Joe Snelson, a past national president for SBE, was appointed by SBE President Wayne Pecnea to chair the SBE Executive Director Search Committee.

Part of the work of the committee was to develop a job description and requirements for the executive director position, which were approved in April. The description calls for a “visionary with a proven track record of management skills who will continue to lead SBE forward in a time of rapid change in the broadcast and telecommunications industry. The executive director is expected to develop plans and strategies with the Board that will ensure the long-term sustainability of the organization and to develop and promote services for the benefit of SBE members.”

Additional responsibilities included in the job description were managing the administration of SBE, implementing board policies, serving as primary contact with industry partners, promoting the society’s advocacy program and building industry and governmental alliances, as well as serving as the treasurer of the Ennes Educational Foundation Trust.

Qualified candidates can apply by sending a resume and cover letter to Search Committee Chair at Executivedirectorsearch@sbe.org by June 30. Initial interviews are expected to begin in July. 

The hope, according to SBE, is to have a final candidate to present to the Board of Directors for approval by Sept. 22 during the SBE National Meeting in Syracuse, N.Y. The target start date for the new executive director is no later than Jan. 1, 2021.

For more information, visit www.sbe.org.  

INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers has added two more names to its list of Fellows. At its April 24 meeting, the SBE board of directors voted to elevate James Leifer, CBPE, and Ralph Beaver, CBT, to its highest membership level. There have been 81 Fellows during the course of the SBE’s 56-year history.

Both will be recognized Sept. 23 at the SBE National Awards Dinner, which will be held in conjunction with the SBE National Meeting. This year’s meeting is scheduled during the SBE Chapter 22 Broadcast & Technology Expo in Syracuse, N.Y.

“They both possess and regularly demonstrate the skill, attitude, professionalism and dedication to broadcast engineering that are the benchmarks of an SBE Fellow,” SBE President Wayne Pecena (CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, DRB, CBNE) said in the announcement. Pecena also noted that he had worked with Leifer and followed Beaver’s efforts at the SBE.

Leifer is the senior manager of broadcast operations for American Tower Corp. and is based in the Boston metropolitan area, where he moved in 2017 for his present role working on the TV repack.

Leifer’s broadcast career kicked off in south Florida in 1987, he initially joined  SBE Chapter 53. In 2008, Chapter 53 elected him chapter chair, a role he fulfilled until 2012. While in Florida, he held engineering positions for iHeartMedia, Ion and Paxson.

Leifer is the SBE board’s current immediate past president. He served as president from 2017–2019, and prior to that was the board’s VP from 2015–2017. Leifer was the SBE secretary from 2011–2015, first joining the board in 2009. 

Several of his nomination letters characterize Leifer as a talented, competent and technically capable broadcast engineer, willing to help others. Leifer’s regulatory advocacy is also a standout, according to his peers.

Beaver, NFL general manager of frequency coordination and CEO of Media Alert LLC, is another long-serving SBE Floridian. He moved to Tampa in 1973, and joined Chapter 39 two years later. Beaver is active in the chapter’s Broadcast Engineering Symposium. 

Additionally, Beaver served on the national board  from 2002 until 2012, during which time he chaired the EAS Committee and then the Frequency Coordination Committee. In the latter role, Beaver worked with the SBE/NFL Game-Day Coordinator program, a position he was well suited to, since he had begun working with the NFL in 1999 as the Tampa game-day coordinator and Super Bowl coordinator for that same year. He took on his current role with the NFL in 2011.

Beaver’s nominations highlighted his EAS efforts as well as his frequency coordination work. One letter called him “a master of spectrum allocations and spectrum compatibility studies.”

INDIANAPOLIS—Off-site operations can increase the risk to your cyber safety, and the Society of Broadcast Engineers wants to help stations protect their equipment, particularly emergency alerting gear.

It has published an article by Larry Wilkins, the chair of the SBE EAS Advisory Group, to help engineers fend off such hacking before it happens.

For instance, he writes, “Although it is tempting to place the EAS equipment on an outside static IP address, this gives an open door to those wishing to do harm. If you don't have an IT staff or someone who understands IT systems, you might ask, ‘How can I check to see if my EAS device is directly accessible from the internet?’” Wilkins goes on to explain.

He also covers software updates including FCC compliance updates, security patches and bug/functional updates.

Wilkins, who retired from Cumulus Media in 2007, writes the technical newsletter for the Alabama Broadcasters Association and has been active in EAS, Amber Alerts and Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program; he is a past recipient of the Radio World Excellence in Engineering Award. 

Read his SBE article about EAS security.

INDIANAPLOIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers has completed the initial round of its ATSC 3.0 Specialist Certification and currently is refining the exam after reviewing the results of beta testing to ensure the SBE has developed a well-rounded certification examination, says Ralph Hogan, chair of the SBE National Certification Committee.

“The SBE Certification Committee is still adding and reviewing questions for the ATSC 3.0 Specialist exam,” says Hogan. 

The beta test of the exam revealed additional work was needed, he says. Once questions are added to the SBE database of questions, the committee will conduct a new round of beta testing. 

“Depending on the results, we may need to do some additional adjusting of the question database and have another round of exams,” he adds. That phase will likely be followed by a final review of the question database and work on preview questions for those planning to take the certification exam.

SBE has worked with the Advanced Television Systems Committee as well as industry professionals and manufacturers on the ATSC 3.0 Specialist Certification exam. When completed, the examination will test proficiency in areas of 3.0 knowledge, skills and abilities.

While the numerous iterations of developing the questions for the database may seem time-consuming to outside observers, the slow steady pace is necessary to make sure SBE gets a final product that achieves the ultimate goal of the 3.0 certification.

“Since ATSC 3.0 is a new technology and there is not much practical experience yet in the field, the challenge of getting it right is of upmost importance,” says Hogan. 

Adding to the challenge of creating the certification exam is the fact that ATSC 3.0 is designed to be flexible enough to accommodate new technologies as they come along—a completely new aspect of creating a test when compared to developing the certification examination for ATSC 1.0, he adds.

INDIANAPOLIS—After nearly 30 years with the Society of Broadcast Engineers, long-time executive director John Poray has announced that he plans to retire at the end of 2020.

Poray joined the SBE as its executive director in October of 1992. Over that time the SBE has seen growth in membership and in the society’s certification, education and frequency coordination programs. SBE President Wayne Pecena said in the announcement that Poray cannot be replaced, “We can only seek to find a successor!”

Poray’s entire career has been in the field of non-profit organization management. Before joining the SBE, he worked with the International Headquarters of Kiwanis International, The Apartment Association of Indiana, The Columbus (OH) Apartment Association and the Central Ohio Council for the Boy Scouts of America. When hired at SBE, Poray was the first full-time executive director.

“I have been blessed to have had a long and productive relationship with the SBE, working with many great members, chapter and national leaders and staff,” Poray said. “Together, we have worked to grow the SBE in size and stature and I believe the SBE is positioned well to continue to serve the broadcast and media engineers into the future. I look forward to a busy 2020 for SBE while assisting the Board of Directors with the transition.”

Pecena is expected to meet with the Board of Directors in the next few weeks to begin the search process for a new SBE executive director.

This release comes directly from the Society of Broadcast Engineers

INDIANAPOLIS—The broadcast engineering community was both shocked and saddened as we learned of the passing of John Lyons on Nov. 28, 2019. John was a bigger-than-life icon of the broadcast engineering community in New York City where he most recently led the design and build of state-of-the-art TV broadcast facilities at One World Trade Center as the director of broadcast communications for the Durst Corporation. His career accomplishments extended well beyond OWTC as his handprints were on all major New York City broadcast and communications facilities from Empire State to 4 Times Square.

John was a true friend of the SBE, having served on the board of directors from 1974 to 1978 and was elected a Fellow in 1977. My first interaction with John was in 2014 soon after it was announced that I was named the 11th recipient of the Radio World Excellence in Engineering award. When I received that award, his email to me simply stated, "Congratulations to #11 from #3." John was the third recipient of that award in 2006. His simple, no-nonsense and to-the-point email was reflective of his character.

In 2016, John hosted the SBE Education Summit at One World Trade Center. I have always felt his personal tour of the unbelievable broadcast facilities, then under construction, was a special occasion. Today, that time is to be cherished.

We offer his family the most sincere condolences.

INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers has announced the creation of a new chapter, Chapter 106 Panhandle, which will serve SBE members in the Florida Panhandle, as well as southern portions of Alabama and Georgia.

SBE’s Board of Directors approved the new chapter at the SBE National Meeting in October. This brings the total number of active chapters to 115 across the country.

Mark Johnson, CSRE, of Linkup Communications will serve as chair for the chapter; Cumulus Media’s Alan Lane, CSRE, AMD, DRB, will be vice chair; and Ricky Carter of Alarado Media will serve as the secretary/treasurer.

“The SBE members in the Florida Panhandle have been without a chapter for some time,” said Wayne Pecena, SBE president. “ The efforts of Mark Johnson and others in the area to organize a chapter have paid off, and all the chapter leaders and organizers deserve the credit for their work in establishing the chapter to serve SBE members in the area.”

COLUMBIA, Md.—By his own admission, Richard Tell has climbed lots of broadcast towers, gotten himself exposed to some really intense radio frequency fields, suffered RF burns and on occasion has even (accidentally) burned out “some fancy test equipment,” but “never to my knowledge experienced a health effect from my work in RF fields, except for the burns.”

Tell, now 75, and an industry expert in the effects of RF radiation on the human body, shared some of his experiences and deep knowledge of the subject at an RF safety seminar put together by the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore SBE chapters under the auspices of Fred Williard, an officer of the D.C. chapter, and hosted by Rohde & Schwarz at their North American headquarters and training facility.

Tell’s presentation—“Staying Safe In RF Fields”—was tailored to provide broadcast engineering personnel and others involved in RF work with the knowledge they need to stay safe and prevent injury. The free day-long course attracted transmitter operators, station and broadcast group personnel, consulting engineers, network employees, two-way radio service technicians, government and military employees, amateur radio operators and even a SiriusXM satellite radio representative from as far away as New York and Richmond, Va.

Tell, an IEEE Life Fellow and chair of RF safety-related committees within IEEE, spent some 20 years with the federal government, working for the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, and later serving as chief of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Electromagnetics Branch, and providing technical support to the FCC when that agency was setting new rules for human exposure to RF fields.

His 52-year-long career not only includes laboratory work and computer modeling, but also plenty of “hands-on” experience—including purposefully subjecting himself to RF currents—that makes him uniquely qualified to impart knowledge and field inquiries into this sometimes rather gray area of radio and TV station operations.

WHERE THE DANGER LIES

In setting the stage for the “practical” portion of his presentation, Tell provided a definition of “MPE,” or Maximum Permissible Exposure (“according to the FCC, this is the amount of field exposure outside the body that is considered safe”), and “SAR,” or Specific Absorption Rate (“the rate at which RF is absorbed in the body, and which is the basis for our safety standards”).

He also distinguished between ionizing and non-ionizing radiation—terms that confuse many lay people and even some professionals. Ionizing radiation occurs when there’s sufficient energy to remove electrons from an atom typically associated with very penetrating radiations, such as x-ray and gamma; non-ionizing refers to any other type of electromagnetic radiation, including the radio frequency spectrum.

“Radio waves do not have sufficient energy to ionize atoms,” said Tell, assuring course attendees that this was not something they had to worry about. “RF fields are not the same as ionizing radiation. They cannot ionize tissue, and unlike ionizing radiation, the biological effects are not cumulative.”

Tell explained that aside from burns suffered from contacting RF-energized conductors, the greatest effect of radio waves on living organisms was heating of tissues, noting that 60 years of research on the effects of RF exposure has established, among other things, that when RF levels fall below a certain threshold, there is no measurable effect on human bodies. Such research has also established a useful “threshold” for what constitutes an excessive RF level.

“The most sensitive and reliable indicator of an established and potentially adverse biological effect of RF radiation exposure has been behavioral disruption of a learned task in laboratory animals,” said Tell. “Their performance ‘slacks off’ because they are ‘warming up’ and less inclined to do what they were trained to do.”

He noted that the threshold for such behavior modification began at a SAR of about 4W per kilogram of body weight, and that this exposure level had been extrapolated to humans and adopted by the FCC in its regulations limiting exposure. Tell stated that a safety factor of 10 is used to constitute what is considered “safe,” with 50 times less exposure being “safer than safe.”

Tell said that in calculating what a “0.4W/kg safe” exposure would be for a 180-pound individual, it amounts to 33W distributed within the tissues. He noted that the normal metabolic rate for humans at rest is about 105W.

“When RF energy is delivered to a lossy material such as body tissue, it produces heating of those tissues,” he said. “Elimination of heating of the body is the primary objective of most safety regulations today.”

Tell observed that the effects of RF on the body are not uniform, with some areas being heated more than others, and that this heating is frequency-dependent, as humans resonate at around 65 MHz.

“FCC exposure limits are based on limiting the rate at which RF energy is absorbed in terms of watts per kilogram of body mass so that you don’t warm up,” said Tell. “A hazardous level of exposure is reached when you begin to warm up from the RF energy impinging on your body.

“The ‘take-home’ here is that if you feel warmer than you suspect would be normal, back off and ensure that your exposure is within the accepted limits.”

PROTECTIVE MEASURES

Tell noted that portable “clip-on” RF monitors, while not necessarily precise indicators, do provide “early warning” information that is useful in flagging what may lead to excessive exposure in RF environments. He also provided some tips for proper use of such monitoring devices, as well as suggestions for mitigating one’s exposure.

“Always wear an RF monitor on the front of your shirt; it should face the antennas generating the radiation you’ll be exposed to,” said Tell. “The difference between front and back can amount to a factor of 16 at 100 MHz. If the monitor sounds only occasionally that’s not a problem. If it’s steady, then it’s time to get out of the area.

“If you have to work close to a high-power antenna, use a personal monitor to determine if the area is below the exposure level; if not, the transmitter must be shut down and locked/tagged out, especially if it’s remotely operated. Take the lockout key with you until all work is completed and the system can be returned to normal operation.”

Other tips include staying behind directional antennas when doing tower work and exercising care when working around non-directional radiators.

“You cannot hide behind an omnidirectional antenna like you can a dish, a Yagi or a panel antenna,” Tell said.

He observed that there were some cases where broadcast operations could not be interrupted and doing work around such transmission sites called for operating with reduced power or wearing a protective body suit and hood designed to attenuate RF exposure to the body.

“Such a suit greatly reduces RF exposure,” said Tell. “But always remember that the suit does not make you into Superman.”

INDIANAPOLIS—The SBE Board of Directors, led by newly elected president Wayne Pecena, have announced the committee chair appointments for the next year. All were approved during the annual SBE Membership Meeting, Oct. 15-16.

The committee chairs are as follows:

Awards—Tom McGinley, CPBE, AMD, CBNT

By-Laws—Charles “Ched” Keiler, CPBE, 8-VSB, CBNE

Certification—Ralph Hogan, CPBE, DRB, CBNE

Chapter Liaison—Mark Fehlig, CPBE, 8-VSB

Education—Geary Morrill, CPBE, CBNE

Fellowship—Troy Pennington, CSRE, CBNT

Electronic Communications—Roswell Clark, CPBE, CBNT

Finance—Roswell Clark

Frequency Coordination—Ted Hand, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, DRB

Government Relations—Kevin Trueblood, CBRE, CBNT

International—Charles W. Kelly Jr.

Membership—Steve Brown, CPBE, CBNT

Mentoring—Chris Tarr, CSRE, AMD, DRB, CBNE

Nominations—Jim Leifer, CPBE

Publications—Jason Ornellas, CBRE, CRO

Social Networking—Kirk Harnack, CBRE, CBNE

Sustaining Membership—Vinny Lopez, CEV, CBNT

Technologies—Shane Toven, CBRE, CBNT

Hogan, Pennington and Kelly do not serve on the SBE Board of Directors.

“The skill and experience of the SBE Board of Directors and committee chairs is wide and varied, and I look forward to drawing on their abilities to continue forward progress of the SBE as we implement plans from the 2018 strategic planning conference and develop new opportunities for our members,” said Pecena.

In addition to the committee chairs, Pecena appointed Roswell Clark and Geary Morrill as directors to serve on the SBE Executive Committee. They will join other committee members Pecena, Vice President Andrea Cummins, Secretary Kevin Trueblood, Treasure Ted Hand and Immediate Past President Jim Leifer.

INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers’ enhanced membership program, SBE MemberPlus, has expanded its eligibility so that SBE Life and SBE Student members can join starting in January 2020.

The decision to expand the MemberPlus program was made at the Oct. 15 SBE Board of Directors meeting.

MemberPlus was created in January 2018 and originally was only available for SBE Regular, Senior or Associate members. The program offers access to more than 80 webinars produced by SBE. SBE reports that since launching MemberPlus, more than 1,000 members have upgraded to it.

SBE Life and SBE Student members will be able to add the MemberPlus benefits for an additional $90 to their annual dues. They can officially sign up as of Jan. 2, 2020.

“The SBE educational efforts have grown significantly in recent years, and SBE MemberPlus provides the greatest access to our leading educational tool: Webinars by SBE,” said Wayne Pecena, SBE president. “Providing access to Life and Student members allows younger, as well as more experienced SBE members, to continue learning by taking advantage of the popular benefit.”

INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers has announced that it has reached an agreement to provide spectrum coordination services for the Department of Defense in the 2025–2110 MHz/2 GHz range. That range is a slice of the Broadcast Auxiliary Service. It also includes some civilian mobile, military and other federal activities such as NASA communications.

The DoD is developing and deploying training systems that will be active in that range in a number of locations across the country. Since it is shared spectrum, the department wanted to avoid disruption of the services as well as disrupting civilian and commercial services also using that range.

That particular range is used by radio and TV stations, notably STLs/TLSes, auxiliary broadcasting such as translators, cable TV relays and more. After consultation with the SBE along with the National Association of Broadcasters the department has entered into an agreement with the SBE for the broadcast engineering association to provide nationwide frequency coordination services.

According to a release the SBE board of directors approved the agreement in April. The association has selected the broadcast consulting firm Technical Broadcast Solutions. Its principal is R.J. Russell, CPBE, a 20-year member of the SBE. He was most recently also SBE national vice president and chair of its Frequency Coordination Committee.

SBE President Jim Leifer said, “Part of the SBE’s mission is to create working alliances within the broadcast industry and with those who work in our space. Entering into this agreement serves to protect broadcaster’s use of spectrum and provides a needed service to our government. I am pleased that we are able to partner with the DoD’s prime contractor in this effort.”

INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers has announced the results of its 2019 election for the national board of directors, revealing Wayne Pecena has been chosen as the next president of the SBE, replacing Jim Leifer, who becomes the immediate past president.

Pecena, a member of SBE’s chapter 99 in College Station, Texas, is the assistant director of educational broadcast services at Texas A&M University, where he also serves as the director of engineering for public broadcast stations KAMU FM & TV. Pecena will serve a one-year term as the society’s president.

“I look to continue the strategic planning implementation work that began under President Leifer, while insuring that the future certification, continuing education and professional service needs of all SBE members are met as our industry and technology continues to change,” Pecena said.

Three other officers were elected to one-year terms: Andrea Cummis (Chapter 15, New York; Roseland, N.J.) was voted vice president; Kevin Trueblood (Chapter 90, Southwest, Fla.; Ft. Myers, Fla.) will become the secretary; and Ted Hand (Chapter 45, Charlotte, N.C.) was voted to the position of treasurer.

Six individuals were also elected to serve two-year terms on the board of directors: Mark Fehlig (Chapter 40 San Francisco; Walnut Creek, Calif.); Charles Keiler (Chapter 53 South Florida; Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.); Geary Morrill (Chapter 91 Central Michigan; Saginaw, Mich.); Jason Ornellas (Chapter 43 Sacramento, Calif.); Chris Tarr (Chapter 28 Milwaukee); and Dan Whealy (Chapter 96 Rockford; Waterloo, Iowa).

The newly elected officers and board members will begin their terms on Oct. 16, where they and the previously elected board members will continue to develop policy and programs for its members.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—If all goes as planned, the 115th local chapter of the Society of Broadcast Engineers will host its first meeting at ARKCON 2019 and begin the process of chartering a new chapter, the Arkansas Broadcasters Association says.

According to the SBE, a new chapter must be authorized by the SBE board of directors, as provided by the society’s by-laws. The new chapter must be formed by a minimum of 10 voting SBE members, and they must apply to the national SBE organization. After approximately three meetings and the adoption of local chapter by-laws, the SBE board of directors will typically authorize the new chapter.

“We are proud to take this step towards better serving our engineers and believe it will provide our engineers the platform they need to network and strategize on advancing their professions and attracting young talent,” ABA Board President Ali Sugg said in a press release.

The most recent local SBE chapter to be added was Chapter 147 of Ft. Bragg, N.C., which achieved this status in January 2016, but began the process with its first meeting in September 2015.

Note that chapter numbers are retired after a chapter is deactivated, but a revived chapter will typically receive its old number. It is not yet clear what number designation the new Arkansas chapter will receive.

INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers’ executive committee has approved Wayne Pecena to serve as its new vice president on April 17, filling a vacancy left by RJ Russell’s April 12 resignation.

Pecena had been serving a term as SBE secretary, so his appointment causes several other executive committee shifts for this term. After SBE President Jim Leifer selected Pecena, he elevated board member Kevin Trueblood to SBE secretary. Therefore, former board member Jason Ornellas will take over Trueblood’s seat, while current board member Steve Brown will join Roz Clark as board representatives on the executive committee.

Russell stepped down because the society may hire his company, Technical Broadcast Solutions, for a to-be-announced-project.

“Losing RJ as the VP of the SBE is unfortunate, but understandable given the circumstances,” Leifer said in the announcement. “While his skill and abilities will be missed on the SBE leadership team, we are fortunate to have a deep bench of talent to continue the SBE’s work.”

Pecena has served on the SBE board of directors since 2012 and was elected secretary in 2016. He is an SBE fellow and chairs the SBE Education Committee. In his day job, Pecena is the assistant director of educational broadcast services in the Office of Information Technology at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.

Radio World also honored Pecena with the Radio World Excellence in Engineering Award in 2014.

LAS VEGAS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers board has elected a new Fellow: Senior member and Ventana Television Chief Engineer John Collinson was approved for the society’s highest membership level at its April 7 meeting.

SBE President Jim Leifer, CPBE, said, “The peer accolades expressed for John show the highest esteem of an SBE member, and recognizing him with the membership grade of Fellow is a testament to John’s skill, attitude, professionalism and dedication to broadcast engineering.”

Collinson (CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, CBNE) joined the society in 1976. He is a member of SBE Chapter 39 Tampa Bay Area, which he is credited with reviving in the 1990s. Collinson also served as chapter chair from 1999 to 2001 and as chapter certification chair since 1995.

Collinson will be recognized for his election to Fellow during the SBE National Awards Dinner on Oct. 16 in Madison, Wis. He is the 79th member to attain this rank.

Following in the footsteps of an older brother—and now focused on the importance of training and mentoring new professionals—engineer Chris Tarr is stepping up to serve on the board of the Society of Broadcast Engineers.

This seat opened when Kim Sacks, CBT, resigned her position on the board. Known as an engineer with “boundless energy for broadcast engineering” (so said SBE President Jim Leifer upon Tarr’s appointment), Tarr will bring a cadre of technical acronyms to the position—among them CSRE, AMD, DRB and CBNE—as well as a list of new priorities for the SBE Mentorship Program.

Tarr spoke with TV Technology's sister publication Radio World about the recruitment challenges the industry faces, why the organization’s Mentorship Program is so important and how he first got bit by that bug known as radio.

Q:How did you get started in broadcasting? What do you find appealing about this community?

Chris Tarr: I actually got “bit” by the radio bug when I was nine years old. My older brother was a morning show host, and I went to visit him. As soon as I stepped into the studio, I was hooked! I started working in radio on the air at 16, but at the same time I learned all I could about the technology and spent lots of time helping out the engineers.

Not only do I love being able to work with such creative people, I also love that I can use technology to remove the barriers that exist when these people try and create compelling content for their audiences. I also very much enjoy the camaraderie that exists between broadcast technicians. I’ve yet to meet someone who wasn’t willing to drop everything to help a peer when needed.

Q:What are you most looking forward to when it comes to participating as a member of the board?

Tarr: This is actually my second time around on the board. I was elected to a term on the board in 2006 and chaired the technology committee. Just like then, I look forward to representing the many hardworking technology professionals in the field.

We often fight an uphill battle trying to get stakeholders to understand the challenges in bringing new technicians into the field, and how well trained technical professionals can do more than just fix what’s broken. We can do many things to improve operational efficiencies as well as the bottom line.

Q:What is the SBE Mentorship program? How will you be involved?

Tarr: The Mentorship Program was developed by the SBE to address the decline in numbers of technical professionals. There really isn’t much in the way of training or education for new professionals, especially in the broadcast disciplines. There are a lot of great IT people out there who are starting to look at a career in broadcast, but there isn’t a real obvious educational track. Just like how the SBE took the lead in professional certification, the Society looks to take the lead in education and training.

Kim Sacks was the chair tasked with creating the Mentor Committee and has done a spectacular job in launching the program. I signed up from the start to be a mentor, and have two mentees that I am teaching. With Kim leaving the board, I will take over as chair and work on growing and improving the program.

Q:What steps are you planning on taking to help further the Mentorship program success?

Tarr: One of the things I’m working on right away is personally presenting the next webinar for the mentees on proper business conduct. I’m also working with the committee on creating a more formal training program with the mentors and mentees when they join the program to make sure that this excellent benefit is used to its fullest potential.

It’s important that the mentees know how to ask the right questions, and for the mentors to be sure that they’re forming a relationship that hopefully lasts a lifetime. I also want to create opportunities for “skill-set” mentors—people who may not want to take on a full mentorship role but could be a resource for mentors and mentees on specific topics.

Q:What do you think are one or two of the biggest issues that SBE should be tackling as we head into 2019?

Tarr: Spectrum management is always on the radar. The cellular and ISP industries have a voracious appetite for RF spectrum. The SBE has been an excellent voice for the broadcast industry in front of the FCC and other organizations, making sure that we’re heard. That is only going to become more important.

I also think that we have a very real looming crisis in terms of the workforce. Technicians are leaving the industry faster than they can be replaced. It won’t be long before we’re going to see jobs unfilled across the country.

Q:What is it about the SBE organization that makes it a vital component within the broadcasting industry?

Tarr: As I mentioned earlier, there is no organization more active in protecting our interests with the FCC than the SBE. So many times threats to our spectrum have popped up and the SBE was there speaking up.

I’m also a deep believer in the SBE certification program, especially with the FCC no longer having a licensing requirement. It’s a fantastic way for non-technical people to immediately know that they’re dealing with a knowledgeable technical professional when they see those certifications.

Q:Do you have any other key goals you’d like to share?

Tarr: Being appointed to the board is a bit different than being elected. I really appreciate the confidence that SBE President Jim Leifer and the executive committee have shown in me by their appointment. I plan to show them and our members how passionate I am for our industry and the professionals in it, and what the future holds for us.

The Society of Broadcast Engineers has formed five working groups tasked with initiatives that will help the society to attract, grow and retain membership, as well as increase participation.

These objectives were determined after a Strategic Planning Task Group reviewed 46 action steps identified at the original June 9 strategic planning meeting. SBE President Jim Leifer chaired the Strategic Planning Task Group and instructed the group “to prioritize, group and refine them to a manageable number,” and they reported back Oct. 2 with 14 action steps.

“This first round of tasks will lay a firm groundwork to help serve our current and future members more effectively and grow the SBE,” Leifer said in a press release announcing the plans.

Each of the five groups is chaired by executive board members and committees were assigned a staff liaison:

• Task Group One is chaired by Wayne Pecena and focuses on “Expanding SBE Membership Scope.” This group will “research the nontraditional tech professionals and begin to generate a list of other mediums that use similar skills and knowledge as traditional SBE members.”

• Kirk Harnack chairs Task Group Two, which works on the complementary goal of “Expanding Member Participation.” Part of this will include exploring a monthly virtual program.

• Task Group Three is led by Leifer and centers on public relations and marketing of the society. This group is tasked with considering whether the society should refocus its mission and/or rebrand. A report on their findings in due Oct. 15.

• Kevin Trueblood chairs Task Group Four, which is another PR-centric committee, but this one will create a first responder team that will help broadcasters during disasters.

• The final Task Group Five is headed by Roz Clark and is decidedly 21st century. They’re charged with updating the website and exploring whether or not the society should have its own app.

Also, the newly created Technologies Committee will be chaired by Shane Toven and is tasked with researching the resources and steps to accomplish the objectives. The committee is charged with “seeing that new technologies are integrated into SBE educational and certification programs.” Also, they will explore how to better educate an expanded membership and share this information with the Education and Certification Committees. New topics to integrate into the curriculum include 5G, streaming, OT and other non-traditional distribution mediums.

Other committees will also get in on the action.

The Certification Committee will review existing and consider new certification programs to make sure all relevant technologies are reflected.

The Publications Committee will create archive of program resources, such as tutorial videos.

The Social Networking Committee will improve and increase SBE social media presence with the goal of reaching a younger audience. Also, they will use state broadcaster associations and the NAB to promote the value of SBE membership.

And, naturally, the Board and Executive Committee will evaluate the progress of strategic planning objectives and action items.

The Society of Broadcast Engineers recently held its annual meeting. At that meeting committee chair assignments were made.

[Read: SBE Re-Elects Jim Leifer As President]

Here those are:

Awards: Tom McGinley, CPBE, AMD, CBNT

By-Laws: Ted Hand, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, DRB

Certification: Ralph Hogan, CPBE, DRB, CBNE

Chapter Liaison: Mark Fehlig, CPBE, 8-VSB

Education: Wayne Pecena, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, DRB, CBNE

Fellowship: Troy Pennington, CSRE, CBNT

Finance: Roswell Clark, CPBE, CBNT

Frequency Coordination: R.J. Russell, CPBE

Government Relations: Kevin Trueblood, CBRE, CBNT

International: Charles W. Kelly Jr.

Membership: Steve Brown, CPBE, CBNT

Mentoring: Kimberly K. Sacks, CBT

Nominations: Vinny Lopez, CEV, CBNT

Publications: Andrea Cummis, CBT, CTO

Social Networking: Kirk Harnack, CBRE, CBNE

Sustaining Membership: Stephen H. Lampen, CBRE

Technologies: Shane Toven, CBRE, CBNT

SBE Jim President Leifer, CPBE, said, “We have a wide range of talent and skills represented by our committee chairs. I look forward to working with all of them in the coming year to further the goals of the SBE and enact the plans being laid following our strategic planning conference held earlier this year.”

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INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers recently announced the results of its 2018 election for the national board of directors, with Jim Leifer being re-elected president. Leifer is the senior manager of broadcast operations at American Tower Corporation in Andover, Mass. 

"I thank SBE members for their support and the Board of Directors for their work over the last year," Leifer said. "Looking ahead, I am eager to discuss the ideas from the SBE strategic planning meeting held in June, and then implement those approved by the SBE Board of Directors. This will enhance the membership experience as we embrace new technologies and new ways of performing the work of the SBE." 

Others serving one-year terms as officers, which begin on Oct. 3, are:

• Vice President: Robert "RJ" Russell, CPBE; president, Technical Broadcast Solutions, Inc.; Middletown, Del.

Serving two-year terms on the board of directors, which also begin Oct. 3 are:

• Stephen J. Brown, CPBE, CBNT; director of broadcast engineering, Woodward Radio Group; Appleton, Wis.

• Roswell Clark, CPBE, CBNT; senior director of radio engineering, Cox Media Group; Clearwater, Fla.

• Kirk Harnack, CBRE, CBNE; senior solutions consultant, Telos Alliance; Nashville, Tenn.

• Vinny Lopez, CEV, CBNT; chief engineer, WSTM/WTVH/WSTQ-TV; Syracuse, N.Y.

• Thomas McGinley, CPBE, AMD, CBNT; president, McGinley Enterprizes; Missoula, Mont.

• Shane Toven, CBRE, CBNT; field engineer, Educational Media Foundation; Laramie, Wyo.

The national board of directors of the SBE is responsible for the development of policy and determines the programs and services the society provides to its more than 5,000 members. Those elected will begin their terms on Oct. 3, 2018, during the SBE Membership Meeting. They will join the other six directors who have another year remaining in their terms Andrea Cummis, CBT, CTO; CTO, WLVT-TV, Roseland, N.J.; Mark Fehlig, PE, CPBE, 8-VSB, senior systems engineer, Jampro Antennas/Alan Dick, Walnut Creek, Calif.; Ted Hand, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, DRB, director of engineering/operations, Cox Media Group, Charlotte, N.C.; Stephen H. Lampen, CBRE, consultant, San Francisco, Calif.; Kimberly K. Sacks, CBT, director of engineering, iHeartMedia, Loveland, Colo.; Kevin Trueblood, CBRE, CBNT, director of engineering, WGCU Public Media, Estero, Fla.; and Jerry Massey, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, DRB, CBNE, director of technical operations, Entercom Greenville Spartanburg, who remains the immediate past president.

The SBE National Meeting will be held Oct. 2-3, 2018, in Danvers, MA, in conjunction with the Media Resource Expo (MRE). To register visit www.regonline.com.

The Society of Broadcast Engineers says that chapters are the lifeblood of the association. This year marks the fifth year that the Chapter Engineer of the Year Award, which has highlighted the achievements of select members within their chapters.

In 2018 six chapters selected their own award recipients. Each winner is to be presented with a special certificate and be recognized nationally on the SBE website and in a future issue of The Signal. The six chapter winners also were automatically nominated for the national Robert W. Flanders SBE Engineer of the Year Award. The 2018 national winner, Mark Persons, represented Chapter 17 as its Chapter Engineer of the Year Award winner.

The 2017 Broadcasters Clinic in Wisconsin won for Best Chapter Regional Educational Event.

Chapter 16, Seattle, won for Best Chapter Communication.

Rob Sobol of Hilights won the award for Best Technical Article, Book or Program by an SBE member for “NOC, NOC. Who’s There?” in AGL Magazine.

Many awards were given for chapter member numbers and accomplishments.

Greatest Growth in New Members:

Class A: Chapter 57, Rochester, N.Y., Chapter Chairman Gregory Carter, CBT, CBNT

Class B: Chapter 118, Montgomery, Ala., Chapter Chairman Wiely Boswell, CBRE, CBNE

Most Certified Member Chapters:

Class A: Chapter 115, Southern Idaho, Chapter Chairman Thomas Kettwig, CBT

Class B: Chapter 131, Inland Empire [California], Chapter Chairman Wayne Murphy, CPBE, CBNE, and Certification Chairman Paul Claxton, CPBE, CBNE

Highest Member Attendance:

Class A: Chapter 145, Magic Valley [Idaho], Chapter Chairman Thomas Lowther, CSRTE, CBNT

Class B: Chapter 79, Austin, Texas, Chapter Chairman Ed Rupp, CBTE, CBNT

Note that class awards are determined using the median chapter size as of Dec. 31, 2017, as the dividing line between Class A (fewer than the median) and Class B (more than the median).

Nominations for the 2019 awards will open in February.

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The Society of Broadcast Engineers has teamed up with the Advanced Television Systems Committee to create a new Specialist level of SBE certification assessing proficiency in the ATSC 3.0 standard. The announcement was made at the ATSC's annual meeting in Washington D.C.

The ATSC 3.0 system, aka Next Gen TV, has been approved for deployment in the U.S., and the technology is already in use in South Korea, as demonstrated at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

[Read: 2018 NAB Show Marks Next Gen TV’s Arrival]

ATSC President Mark Richer explained in the release that the effort is part of the committee’s work “to support deployment of ATSC 3.0.”

“As broadcast engineering diversified beyond legacy technology, the SBE Certification Program also diversified by adding certifications for computer networking and IT, and then a series of specific Specialist Certifications for television transmission, AM directional arrays, and digital radio. With the industry preparing to implement ATSC 3.0, broadcast engineers must be proficient in the next-generation television technology,” SBE President Jim Leifer, CPBE, said in a press release announcing the initiative.

Once developed, the exam will consist of a 50 multiple-choice questions and one essay, as per the Specialist format. Also, in order to become certified as a Specialist, applicants must first be designated as CBT, CBRE/CBTE, CSRE/CSTE or CPBE — the core certifications of the SBE.

The SBE Certification Program was created in 1975 to provide standards of competence for the industry.

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INDIANAPOLIS — Awards season may be over for Hollywood, but it’s just heating up for broadcast engineers.

The Society of Broadcast Engineers is now accepting nominations for the Robert W. Flanders SBE Engineer of the Year and the James C. Wulliman SBE Educator of the Year awards, as well as the SBE Freedom Award and the SBE Technology Award, among others.

[Read: 2017 SBE National Award Winners Revealed]

Additionally, SBE chapters should nominate a member for the Chapter Engineer of the Year award for the sixth year. Deadline for all nominations is June 15, 2018.

There are 13 total awards presented annually. The categories are broken down into individual and chapter awards.

Email Certification Director Megan Clappe or SBE Awards Committee Chair Jason Ornellas for more information.

DENVER—The Society of Broadcast Engineers will offer a new “enhanced” membership category, outgoing SBE President Jerry Massey announced at Thursday’s national meeting in Denver.

Beginning in January, SBE members can go the traditional route or they can pay additional $175 and be part of the SBE Member Plus program.

Those who go opt to go “Plus” will receive all of the existing perks of SBE membership (discounts on educational programming, certifications and technical courses), but they will also be able to access the SBE’s webinar archive and will pay no additional fees to view webinars during that membership year.

Massey introduced this initiative as part of his final remarks before hanging up his hat as SBE president. He characterized his two years of service as “phenomenal” and remarked on the progress that the educational programming has made and predicted that there will be many more opportunities going forward. Massey said that attendance at some educational programs had doubled in 2018, particularly highlighting the society’s two webinar series.

After his induction and “swearing in,” new SBE President (and former VP) Jim Leifer recalled that when he started in broadcasting, his boss told him there would be change — and change there was! But, Leifer said, that’s way education is so important, and why so many members want there to be more opportunities to learn.

Note that there is another learning opportunity coming up shortly. The SBE will host its annual RF Safety webinar Nov. 9.

INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers will be under new leadership, as Jim Leifer was voted to take over the role of SBE president. Leifer, who is the senior manager of broadcast operations at American Tower Corporation, will take over for Jerry Massey when his term begins on Oct. 26.

Jim Leifer

The full results of the 2017 election for the national board of directors were been released. Others joining Leifer for one-year terms as officers include Robert “RJ” Russell, vice president of engineering and operations, WTXF-TV in Philadelphia, as vice president; Wayne Pecena, director of engineering for Texas A&M’s KAMU-FM & T, as secretary; and Jim Bernier, senior director, Techwood Engineering, as treasurer.

A number of new additions to the board of directors were also voted upon; they will begin their two-year terms on Oct. 26 as well. The newly elected board members include Andrea Cummins, managing partner at AC Video Solutions; Mark Fehlig, senior systems engineer for Jampro/Alan Dick Antennas; Stephen H. Lampen, multimedia technology manager/product line manager – entertainment products, Belden; Kimberly K. Sacks, director of engineering at iHeartMedia; Barry Thomas, director of engineering at KSE Radio; and Kevin Trueblood, director of engineering for WGCU Public Media.

Bernier had one year left on his term as the director of the board, so a replacement will be selected at the SBE National Meeting amongst the newly elected members of the board and the five other directors who have one year remaining on their terms.

The SBE National Meeting will take place in Denver from Oct. 25-26.

INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers has named Steve Brown as the 2017 Robert W. Flanders SBE Engineer of the Year. Also, Tony Peterle has been chosen as the James C. Wulliman SBE Educator of the Year. Both are considered to be the society’s highest individual awards and were announced in a press release alongside other national and chapter awards.

All will recognized during the SBE National Awards Dinner on Oct. 26 at the SBE National Meeting in Denver, held in conjunction with the Rocky Mountain Audio/Video Expo.

Brown is recognized for excellence in his 40-year career while furthering the mission of the SBE. Contributions include serving as SBE Chapter 17 chairman and a former member of the SBE National Board of Directors. His career began in 1977 as an engineer at WWTC in the Twin Cities, and Brown was one of the first engineers to utilize a helicopter to make relative field measurements of pattern of a FM radio station. He lives in Robbinsdale, Minn., and recently retired — this time for good; he “retired” in 2004 to serve as a contract engineer, during which time he was involved in building more than 20 HD Radio stations.

Peterle, CPBE, is is recognized for outstanding service and excellence in sharing knowledge through teaching other broadcast engineers. In his day job, he is the technical support manager at WorldCast Systems. He is credited with training engineers about SNMP through SBE University, Ennes workshops and SBE webinars. Peterle began in radio in 1975, reporting traffic in Honolulu and Seattle, and migrated to the broadcast engineering side when he was in Wichita and Kansas City, Kan. He now lives in Miami and is a member of Chapter 53.

Additionally, John Payne and Vislink have been awarded the 2017 SBE Technology Award for spearheading the launch of Newsnet, a wireless ecosystem that establishes a bi-directional IP network for ENG use. Newsnet establishes a high-speed and reliable bi-directional IP network utilizing 2 GHz BAS licensed spectrum, thereby increasing the number of live ENG transmissions and workflows that can now be performed from the field.

James Dalke, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, CBNT, has been recognized with the award for the Best Technical Article, Book or Program by an SBE Member. His 2017 NAB Broadcast Engineering & Information Technology Conference presentation on “Using Satellite VSATs for Broadcast STL” earned him the honor.

The 2016 Ohio Broadcast Engineering Conference has won for Best Chapter Regional Educational Event.

CHAPTER AWARDS

Several awards annually recognize chapters for growth in membership, percentage of certified members and highest average attendance at meetings, based on statistics submitted by chapters to the national office. Each category is broken into two based on chapter size. Class A represents chapters whose membership is less than the national median, while Class B includes chapters with membership greater than the national median.

GREATEST GROWTH IN NEW MEMBERS

• A — Chapter 111, Huntsville, Ala.: Chapter Chairman Kevin Kidd, CSRE, AMD
• B — Chapter 68, Birmingham, Ala.: Chapter Chairman Tim Costley

MOST CERTIFIED CHAPTER

• A — Chapter 72, New Orleans: Chapter Chairman Ernest Kain; Certification Chairman Ernie Harvey, CPBE, 8-VSB, CBNT

• B — Chapter 118, Montgomery, Ala.: Chapter Chairman Wiely Boswell, CBRE, CBNE; Certification Chairman Charlie Grider, CBRE, CBNT

HIGHEST AVERAGE MEMBER ATTENDANCE

• A — Chapter 112, Western, Wis.: Chapter Chairman Todd Zschernitz, CBTE

• B — Chapter 79, Austin, Texas: Chapter Chairman Ed Rupp, CBTE, CBNT

Nominations for the 2018 awards will open in February.

INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers recently filled a vacancy on the national SBE Board of Directors. Additionally, the 2016 director candidates were also announced.

According to the SBE website, Carlos Marcelo Sanchez, CPBE, was appointed by current President Jerry Massey and ratified by the board at its on May 13 meeting. He replaces Kim Sacks, CBT, and will serve the remainder of the term, ending Oct. 27.

Sanchez is director of broadcast operations and engineering for WFOR/WBFS(TV) in Miami.

The Nominations Committee put forth the following candidates for officer: 

• President: Jerry Massey, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, DRB, CBNT (Chapter 86, Greenville, S.C.)
• Vice President: James Leifer, CPBE (Chapter 53, south Florida)
• Secretary: Tim Anderson, CPBE, DRB, CBNE (Chapter 33, southwestern Ohio)
• Treasurer: Andrea Cummis, CBT, CTO (Chapter 15, New York)

If elected, they will each serve one-year terms.

Out of the following candidates, the top six vote-getters will be elected to serve two-year terms as directors.

• Jim Bernier, CPBE, CBNE (Chapter 5, Atlanta)
• Kirk Harnack, CBRE, CBNE (Chapter 103, Nashville, Tenn.)
• Brian Oliger, CBT, CBNT (Chapter 37, D.C.)
• Jason Ornellas (Chapter 43, Sacramento)
• Wayne Pecena, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, DRB, CBNE (Chapter 99, Bryan, Texas)
• Marcelo Sanchez, CPBE (Chapter 53, south Florida)
• Mark Simpson, CPBE, AMD, DRB, CBNE (Chapter 32, Tucson, Ariz.)
• Justin “JT” Tucker, CSRE, AMD, CBNE (Chapter 107, Charleston, S.C.)

Additional candidates may be nominated by the membership before July 12. In order to be added to the ballot, a name must be proposed by at least ten members. Read this for more information about who is qualified.

Voting will take place online July 25­–Aug. 25. Those who have opted out of electronic voting will receive a paper ballot in the mail.

INDIANAPOLIS—The newest edition of the "SBE Broadcast Engineering Handbook: Hands-on Guide to Station Design and Maintenance" has been released by the Society of Broadcast Engineers and McGraw-Hill Education.

The handbook was edited by Jerry Whitaker, vice president of standards development for the Advanced Television Systems Committee and SBE fellow, and includes contributions from more than 50 authors on practical and up-to-date coverage of all major broadcast technologies for radio, TV and related fields.

As with past editions, the 2016 handbook features in-depth tutorials and is written from the perspective of the broadcast engineer. It’s divided into 10 sections:

• Regulatory Issues
• RF Transmission
• DTV Transport
• Information Technology Systems
• Production Systems
• Facility Issues
• Broadcast Management
• plus three reference annexes.

The SBE offers the book to SBE members at a discounted price of $159 through the SBE Bookstore. It is also sold at www.mhprofessional.com for $199, as well as through other online retailers.

GREENVILLE, S.C.—Jerry Massey is disappointed if he doesn’t learn something new every day in his job. He’s pretty sure most broadcast engineers feel the same. The fast-evolving technology of the broadcast industry seems to suit him well.

Massey, director of engineering for Entercom Greenville in South Carolina and corporate regional engineer southeast for Entercom Communications, begins his tenure as president of Society of Broadcast Engineers this month with a plan that focuses on education, retention and recruitment. He is being inducted as president during SBE’s annual membership meeting in Madison, Wis., Oct. 13–15 succeeding Joseph Snelson.

SBE is the professional organization of television and radio engineers and people who work in related fields; it has approximately 5,100 members and more than 100 chapters.

Jerry Massey stands in the Technical Operations Center of Entercom Greenville.

NEED FOR KNOWLEDGE
Massey, 68, noted both the pace of change as well as the expansion in platforms that come under the purview of SBE members.

“Just 10 years ago, about all broadcast engineers had to be concerned with was the studio and transmitter site. Today we have HD signals, streams, a wide variety of IT office, studio and transmitter circuits and programs,” Massey said. “The quest ahead for SBE will be to support our membership through these changes.”

Things were perhaps simpler when Massey began his career in 1973 at WFBC (AM/FM/TV) in Greenville. He remains with the same station group after 42 years.

In hindsight it seems clear he was destined for a career in radio—his first word as a young toddler was “radio,” according to his parents. However, he started out studying chemical engineering major at the University of South Carolina; and his first five years at WFBC were spent on the TV side.

In 1969, during the Vietnam conflict and in his fourth year at USC, Massey was informed he was up to be drafted. Instead, “I chose to join the Air Force and got a tremendous education as a Ground Radio Communications Equipment Repairman. I spent four years in the Strategic Air Command and studied for my FCC First Class License.”

Being settled into one location for so long hasn’t deterred Massey from advancing his training and education—with the help of SBE—which happens to be the focus of his plans as president.

“Going forward, broadcast engineers will have more and more duties added to their charge. While other station, cluster and regional jobs may in time be consolidated or trimmed, it will be the broadcast engineer that will be needed to keep operations of these new technologies functioning.”

TV and radio face more technology changes that are still being developed. The quest for SBE, he said, will be how to support membership throughout the changes.

“Our main objective will be of course providing the educational webinars and courses that will aid in training members for new technologies,” Massey said. Broadcast engineers need to learn how to manage and support new platforms.”

IT-based technologies will continue to dominate broadcast, and the transition to IP technology isn’t slowing, Massey said. “Everything now seems to have some IT base to it. That includes the basic units of consoles, mic processors, editing equipment, EAS systems, STL relays and transmitters.” HD Radio developments, too, are of high interest to SBE membership, Massey said.

For seasoned broadcast engineers, all this means constant study and learning to adapt to those changes, he said.

“The public has more options than ever in obtaining their news and entertainment. For the broadcast industry, this means adapting and providing those new and ever-changing means of access. It’s not the status quo anymore,” Massey said.

The SBE’s Government Relations Committee continues to track the shrinking spectrum for wireless mics and Broadcast Auxiliary Service operations, he said.

“We have filed comments on the FCC’s rulemaking regarding wireless mics. Wireless mics are a staple in the broadcast industry and especially for TV in studio and remote broadcast, so it’s a big concern.”

In addition, SBE’s large membership of TV engineers has its eyes on ATSC 3.0 and spectrum repacking.

Those interested in reading SBE’s filings on wireless mics and BAS operations can visit the SBE website at www.sbe.org.

Even the Voltair processor/PPM ratings controversy could present teaching opportunities for SBE. “It may be along the lines of proper placement, alignment, monitoring and problem resolution of encoders and processors that are providing the ratings data to the air signals,” Massey said.

A NOD TO RON

One early career influence was Ron Rackley, principal with duTreil, Lundin and Rackley Inc. Massey credits Rackley for everything he knows about AM directional antennas. When Massey started at WFBC, he was partnered with Rackley, then a student at Bob Jones University in Greenville.

“We worked on the station’s AM directional system. We did field measurement including partial proofs. What a great time to learn from an eventual leading authority on AM directional systems,” Massey said.

Massey today oversees broadcast engineering aspects in Greenville for WFBC(FM), WROQ(FM), WSPA(FM), WTPT(FM) WYRD(FM) and WORD/WYRD(AM). Nielsen ranks the Greenville-Spartanburg metro as market No. 59 for ratings purposes. Its metro 12+ population is just over 924,000, according to Nielsen.

As part of the regional engineering team at Entercom, Massey assists other clusters in the southeast with capitalization and implementation, as well as disaster preparedness and disaster implementation and recovery when necessary. He reports to Entercom’s DOE John Kennedy.

Massey said he is set to lead SBE by example as he steps into the presidency this fall. He was active in establishing SBE Chapter 86 in Greenville and diligent in continuing his education and earning certifications. “I am a Certified Professional Broadcast Engineers (CPBE) with specialties in AM Directional Systems (AMD), Digital Radio Broadcasting (DRB), Digital TV (8-VSB) and a Certified Broadcast Network Technician (CBNT).

”So my message to SBE members is to become certified. If I can do this beginning midlife, you can too. Do it for yourself and do it to show others that you are capable and certified as a broadcast engineer.” He is also a member of the American Radio Relay League and the Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Society.

Massey and his wife Norma have three grown children and live in Simpsonville, S.C.

“I am very thankful to have a wife who is supportive of my busy career. For a broadcast engineer, that is a must,” Massey said.