RF Shorts: Other Items of Interest - Nov. 19, 2009

By Doug Lung
published

Last month RF Report reported on FCC Public Notice (DA-09-2273)[PDF] announcing a petition seeking declaratory ruling that the Hazelton, Pa. ordinance governing satellite antenna installation is preempted by the FCC's off-air reception devices rules. It appears Hazelton may be willing to withdraw the ordinance allowing the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (SBCA), Antenna Star Satellites, and Johnson TV & Satellite to withdraw their petition. The city of Hazelton requested an extension of time to file responses or comments with respect to the petition. All petitioners supported the extension.

In Public Notice (DA 09-2417) [PDF], granting the extension < to Dec. 31, 2009 for comments and to Jan. 19, 2010 for replies, the FCC notes that "the City states that the requested extension would allow sufficient time for it to take official action to withdraw the challenged ordinance. This additional time will also allow Petitioners an opportunity to consider whether to withdraw their Petition in the event the challenged ordinance is withdrawn."

If you handle DTV reception issues at a VHF DTV station, you'll appreciate how WTVG's Tim Young tackles DTV reception problems. See DTV Expert: Ask Tom Young – Problems with TV reception?. Tom handles questions ranging from intermittent VHF reception to black bars around the picture on certain Dish Network receivers.

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.