WASHINGTON: In the department of “Things Only Engineers Would Notice,” a prominent broadcast engineer has pinged the Federal Communications Commission for “rewiring” its seal. Dane Eriksen P.E. of Hammett & Edison (N6AJY) observed a change in the federal seal on the commission’s new website, and apparently, the one in the meeting room. Michael Marcus of Marcus Spectrum Solutions LLC explains:
“In the traditional FCC seal, the feed line splits and goes to all three horizontal antenna wires. In the new version, one of the three wires after the split goes to the bottom wire and two go to the top wire.”
The group picture of the commissioners at FCC.gov shows the correct version of the seal, according to the engineers. The feed line comes up the middle between a V-configuration of telephone lines. It connects to three horizontal lines, the middle of which connects to two broadcast towers. The other two connect to the telephone lines. In the new seal at the lower left-hand corner of beta.fcc.gov, the feed line no longer connects to the broadcast tower line. (Scroll all the way down and expand the page elements. Marcus also illustrates at “The Mystery of the Changing FCC Seal.”)
“The seal in the Commission Meeting Room may not bother lawyers, but drives engineers crazy and may be a symbol of the state of technical things at FCC,” Marcus wrote.
