IEEE Readies for Broadcasting Symposium

By Doug Lung
published

The 59th Annual IEEE Broadcast Symposium will take place October 14-16, 2009 at the Weston Hotel in Alexandria, Virginia. As usual, many of the papers will cover DTV transmission and reception.

On Wednesday Sid Shumate will discuss a new implementation of Longley Rice and Greg Best will cover harmonic and spurious measurement methodology according to the IEEE P1631 Recommended Practice. John Kean from NPR Labs will be there to discuss signal coverage measurement techniques for FM radio and IBOC that I suspect will also be of interest to TV engineers.

Thursday's papers include "Revisiting the Field Strength Requirements for DTV in the Canadian Context" and "Experimental Results on Wind Turbines Impact to Terrestrial DTV Reception in UHF Band." Charles Einoff discusses another potential broadcast reception problem: in-house power line telecommunications devices.

Friday's sessions focus on antennas. Merrill Weiss offers an explanation of why modeling mechanical beam tilt in broadcast antennas may not be as simple as you think. Bill Hayes will moderate a panel discussion featuring representatives from TV transmitting antenna manufacturers. I expect circular and elliptical polarization will be among the topics discussed.

In addition to the papers, the Symposium provides an excellent opportunity to network with industry experts. Registration is open now. The IEEE 59th Annual IEEE Broadcast Symposium web page has more information on the event.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.