Subject: [BDR] Cold Can Be A Challenge / The FCC Complaint Portal

 

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Greetings from your broadcast friends out on the Desert...
This is the BDR Newsletter 753, Volume 15, #25 for January 17, 2024

Here are some things you might want to know about:

SEVERE STORM WARNING
No, you are not reading this here, first. But, the depth of the cold and ice over the past week might be a wake-up call to monitor transmission sites. Heavy ice, especially as it thaws, can be dangerous as it falls to the ground. Even before, damage to antennas and coax can happen - causing problems to the transmission system. This is a call to check your VSWR readings and watch out that you are safe from falling ice. If your transmitter has done an automatic power reduction, do not force it back up! But do make plans to get there and inspect it asap.

A MINOR EV PROBLEM
Another thing the cold has done is make EV charging difficult, if not impossible. A whole string of reports from the mid-west indicate a lot of EVs got stranded at charging stations that could not function properly.

THE FCC COMPLAINT PORTAL
There are a lot of us that see and hear things that should not have been broadcast - or a silent station that *should* broadcast. Lark Hadley, EB Regional Director for Region Three is joining us tomorrow to explain and discuss the FCC's Complaint Portal - why you should use it, when, how, and then what happens.

Join us tomorrow (Thursday) at 2 PM Eastern / 11 AM Pacific for this informative presentation. The link invite is available at www.theBDR.net/TLG/ or be responding to the newsletter. Also, we will be on Youtube live on the thebdrnet channel. We hope to see you! (It may be useful to you to subscribe at youtube.com/thebdrnet ... and get a notice when the new videos are posted.

AI IN TN
One of the biggest "things" at CES last week was the way AI is becoming involved in almost anything you can think of - including deep fake videos and audio files. The Tennessee legislature has passed the ELVIS (Ensuring Voice and Image Security) Act. This addition to the state's Person Rights laws, would ensure no one could take a likeness of any other person and, using AI, develop something where the person is saying or doing something they did not approve.

THOSE OLD OPTIMODS CAN BE NEW AGAIN
We hear a lot of Optimod 8100 and 9100's are still sitting on shelves, sometimes in favor of newer audio processors. However, for a modest cost, Leembruggen Audio Service can provide a quality rebuild with newer components that can bring a lot of life back with those legacy units.

FOR SALE
Someone has a pair of Inovonic audio processors for sale. Those and more can be found on the Buy/Sell Page.
And now that the big holidays are over, Dana's Deals is back in motion.
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May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR - and you!
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http://www.lawo.com
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Some recent articles of interest:

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May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR - and you!
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DigitalAlertSystems.com
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MANUFACTURERS' NEWS

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A ubiquitous as it is, AI was not the only thing at CES. One example was the displays of new WiFi 7 products, The new standard is 802.11be. In general, shipping is quoted as next quarter or later this year, but it is worth keeping the coming gear in mind.

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ATSC 3 may have yet another use, according to information at the NextGen booth. The UK's ROXi FastStream Technology and NextGen TV are set to offer a new experience with "app-style interactivity" to linear Broadcast TV. Initially, the plan is for three new interactive music TV channels to launch across USA – the ROXi Music Channel, the ROXi Music Video Karaoke Channel, and the ROXi Music Games Channel, which will allow Broadcast TV viewers on connected TVs to pause, play and skip music videos for first time without downloading an app on the TV. One study shows 77% of US households want such free interactive music TV channels, karaoke and music games.

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NextGen also released information on four new ATSC3 converters to hit the market. The first, the ADTH receivers are already at Walmart.

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We are now down to a dozen weeks before NAB 2024 hits the stage in Las Vegas. The 2024 NAB Show registration is now open. If you are thinking of going, you can get a free floor pass now: Inovonics shares this Free Floor Pass code: NS5268 and Nautel is using NS9564. Also, do not forget the Nautel User Group (NUG) on Sunday at NAB.

And, do not forget the APRE, coming just before the NAB. More information is coming.

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May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR - and you!
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www.inovonicsbroadcast.com
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Do You Remember? This week in history:
Broadcast related items:

... and 117 years ago (1/15/1907) Lee de Forest patented his Audion tube.

Now for some more regular newsy-type stuff:


... and 466 years ago (1/15/1559) Elizabeth I was crowned Queen of England.
 
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May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR - and you!
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http://worldwideantennasystems.com/
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* The single ran 8:36, requiring both sides of the 45 for the whole song.

** Diana Ross was only 16.

*** So many First Class Radiotelephone Operators were taken into the military, stations needed some license class so they could operate.

**** It was the perfect crime-almost-as the culprits weren't caught until January 1956, just days before the statute of limitations for the theft expired.

***** the 21st amendment, cancelling the 18th was passed and ratified in 1933. It was not the first such law though - Tennessee passes nation's first prohibition law.

MIDWEEK BONUS
Definitely not AI: A cover of Bohemian Rhapsody in four guitars........

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PLEASE INVITE A FRIEND
We sure hope you are finding the BDR and the Newsletter to be of value to you. If so, there are two things that you can do to ensure the BDR keeps pulsing along:
        1. Invite a colleague or a friend to sign up for the Newsletter. Since it is only one-time-a-week, you will not be accused of flooding their in-boxes!
        2. Anytime you deal with one of our sponsors, letting them know the BDR is important to you will make them happy - and ready to keep on supporting the BDR.

TELL US WHAT'S WHAT
There are so many areas into which we would like to expand, but it is feedback from you that helps us decided where to go first. Are you interested in a certain piece of gear or technology? Let us know. Even better, would you be willing to do a user report and share your experience?

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We sure do appreciate you spending time with our Newsletter. And even more so when you recommend us to your colleagues and friends.

barry

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Now ... some extra stuff .. some important ... some just interesting.

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