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Weekly Tech Reminders: ATSC 3.0, EAS and C Band

An excerpt from this week’s Monday Morning Coffee and Technical Notes

The following is from the Alabama Broadcasters Association’s weekly e-newsletter, Monday Morning Coffee and Technical Notes. Thanks to ABA’s Larry Wilkins. To subscribe to the newsletter, email[email protected].

SBE ATSC 3.0 CERTIFICATION

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, DC.

“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.

EAS NOTES

A reminder to engineers and station chief operators of the FCC rules requiring the maintenance of a station log. This log contains entries covering EAS activities, tower light malfunctions and compliance with terms of the station license. It must be reviewed weekly by the chief operator and be signed and dated by the CO.

To aid stations in maintaining this log, the ABA has put together a station log on which you can keep all the required data for the entire month.

These logs are required to be retained for two years.

Download a copy at al-ba.com under the EAS tab.

C BAND REGISTRATION

The clock is clicking down for the deadline to register your C Band Satellite downlinks.

The NAB, SBE and state broadcast associations are urging stations that presently have C band satellite dishes to register them with the FCC.

As NAB points out normally applications for earth station licenses, or registration in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band, would require a frequency coordination report demonstrating coordination with terrestrial stations, however the Commission has waived the frequency coordination requirement for the applications for a 90-day period ending on July 18.

Applications must be filed electronically through IBFS at http://licensing.fcc.gov/myibfs/. You will need the station FRN number and password to log into the site. Once logged in select and complete Form 312 Schedule B, remit the statutory application filing fee, and provide any additional information required by applicable rules. The filing fee is $435.

Listed here are detailed instructions, provided by space providers SES and Linkup Satellite, that you can follow to complete registration.

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