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Jack E. Roland, KEØVH

www.skyhublink.com Repeater Linking System

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Wheat Ridge CO

303-704-3290

 

From: BDR <[email protected]> On Behalf Of The BDR via BDR
Sent: Wednesday, March 5, 2025 9:12 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [BDR] DST This Week! / NAB Preparations

 

Trouble viewing? Try your browser: www.thebdr.net/this-week

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Greetings from your broadcast friends out on the Desert...
This is BDR Newsletter 811, Volume 16, #31 for March 5, 2025

DST - THIS IS THE WEEK
Unless you are in Arizona or Hawaii, DST begins on Sunday morning, March 9, 2025, at 2 AM local time (and will run through November 2nd). AM Daytimers or stations using PSA or PSSA might want to double-check times, since the FCC license is in standard time.

NAB STARTS EARLY THIS YEAR
The NAB Spring Show opens on April 6th, through the 9th. The North Hall will be open, although most radio-oriented companies are spread through the West Hall. A suggestion has been made for us to get together on Monday noon or evening. If you have a desire to meet up with some of the folks you see on the weekly zoom meeting, for example, this might be a good idea, depending upon whether there is enough interest shown.

GETTING READY TO GET AROUND
Among the other things we will discuss this week during our virtual lunch gathering, Jeff Welton offers his advice, based on attending a whole lot of trade show, on  thing you might want to know - tips, tricks, and traps to avoid. In fact, he might even convince you to go and attend the 2025 Show, and enjoy the "fun" in Las Vegas.

The usual time/day will prevail again this week: 2 PM Eastern. No, you probably will not learn where to find a $1.00 shrimp cocktail, but there are some other good things to know.

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May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR - and you!
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https://worldwideantennasystems.com/
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A DIFFICULT YEAR FOR SOME BROADCASTERS
2024 was not kind to some of the biggest companies in the industry. Reports indicate iHeart Media lost over a billion dollars last year, Cumulus reported $283.3 in losses, but was able to push out its 3/4 Billion in debt by three years, HD Radio maker Xperi saw $87.1 million in losses. Everyone hopes 2025 will be a better year.

FCC MOVING ON SEVERAL FRONTS
Among its current inquiries, the FCC is looking at the part of the satellite C-Band (3.98 GHz to 4.2 GHz) that was not auctioned off previously to see if additional spectrum can be freed up. The Commission is seeking comments on how this might affect current and future users of the Upper C-Band. Not only could this affect broadcasters, but also the radio altimeters in the 4.2 to 4.4 GHz band.

SILENCING THE WEA
Quite often, during emergencies, the alerts sent to cell phones, especially at strange hours, have caused many people to turn off the notifications. In an effort to slow this trend of "alert fatigue" and ensure the public gets the warnings it needs, a Report and Order, and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking has been adopted by the FCC.

Essentially, this will allow alert originators to decide whether or not to send the alerts with or without the attention signal or triggering the vibration feature. It does not ask broadcasters to send silent alerts. (What?)

CALMING THE COMMERCIALS
Since 2012, the CALM Act was designed to have TV stations, cable operators, and satellite video providers ensure that commercials did not come on with huge jumps in volume. Things seemed to much better for a few years, but now the volume jump seems to have returned on some services, especially streaming services. The FCC is now asking for public comment on this topic, too. The NPRM is here.

NEXT GEN WARNING SYSTEM PAUSE
Among the actions currently being done by the new Administration, there have been some questions as to the continued funding from the FEMA through CPB for stations to upgrade their systems for more reliable alerts. Stations are cautioned to proceed slowly until and unless funds are restarted.

ATSC 1 TO SUNSET?
The NAB has asked the FCC to set a timeline for the transition to ATSC 3.0 transmissions. Filing a Petition for Rulemaking, the NAB would like to see ATSC 1 to end for the most part in the top 55 markets by February 2028, with the rest of the nation to be accomplished by February 2030.

The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) is against the NAB timeline, saying it would lead to a major increase in costs.

SKYPE TO END SHORTLY
An announcement by Microsoft says Skype will be shut down by May, with the company offering users a free version of MS Teams. Information on the transition is already coming out.

JASPER ALABAMA STATION HAS A NEW OWNER
The station that reported its tower had disappeared overnight is now back on the air, and a deal has just been filed with the FCC to gain approval of transfer to a new owner.

FOR SALE
Yes, we have a lot of new items this week, ranging from transmitters to a Heathkit oscilloscope. An Orban 8200, a set of consoles, and more are listed. There may well be something you might need and can use. Check out these and other items on the BDR.

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May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR - and you!
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https://henryeng.com/
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Some recent articles of interest:

More newsy items here

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May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR - and you!
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https://www.7bd.com
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MANUFACTURERS' NEWS

NAB is approaching fast! .... April 5-9.  The Registration Page is here. This is for full registration or Free Floor Passes.
Since we are getting closer, the manufacturers are letting us know what to look for on the floor.

Here is a BOOTH LIST AND FLOOR PASS CODES from your favorite manufacturers:
         Broadcast Depot - West Hall Booth: W-1953,  Floor Pass code: NS6722
         Broadcast Devices - N2421 (hosted by Broadcasters General Store)
         Broadcasters' General Store - Booth N2421
         Davicom - Booth W3543 - Free floor pass code: NS9583
         Dielectric - West Hall Booth 3000
        Digital Alert Systems - Booth W3837 - Free Floor Pass code: NS5442
         iMediaTouch - booth # is W2242    Pass Code is NS9725
        Insoft - West Hall booth W1327 (Broadcast Depot's booth)
         Jampro - Booth W1720 - Floor pass code: N4389
        Lawo - Booth N-623 - Floor pass code: NS6282
        Nautel - Floor Pass code: NS9564 - NUG seminar at the Flamingo Hotel
         Streamguys - Booth W1743 (with ENCO Systems)
        Telos Alliance - North Hall Booth #N721  and N2553  - Floor Pass Code: NS9723
         Wheatstone - Booth W1654 - Floor Pass Code: NS8557
        Aqua Broadcast - Booth W2520, in the Great Britain Pavilion.    

Some new information:

Broadcast Depot has a special NAB contest: if you sign up for NAB Free Floor pas with their number, you will be automatically entered in a drawing for a Solo u package.

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Jampro plans a booth full of cutting-edge FM, UHF, and DAB/HD Radio antennas, advanced combiners, filters, and robust RF feeders, customizable to fit seamlessly into your broadcasting framework.

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iMediaTouch will be showcasing their iMediaCam product (think Visual Radio), plus lots of updates to their Logger 6 Software like multi logger Status Monitoring and Logger Dashboard among many others.

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The Telos Alliance will be in two booths. One will be the Syndicate of Sound Booth showcasing the 5.1 Deja Vu, 5.1 immersive demo.

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Davicom will be at the Show with their new AXON-4AUD audio input interface, a real-time audio level monitoring device designed for broadcasters who need precise silence detection and audio level control. It has a detection range of over 50dB (-35 dBu to +20 dBu), to ensure consistent signal quality and preventing silent carrier issues.

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Wheatstone is going to be at NAB with all the latest in consoles and audio processors, plus a few new developments in streaming and AoIP that they hope you will not want to miss.

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Broadcast Devices is now shipping the RAS-208 Stereo and RAS-216 mono audio switchers with serial and SNMP control! There will also be a an chance to check out the new DPS-100D series power meters with RMS, Pulse and Peak Envelope Power measurement capability.

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With FCC permission to operate 24/7, Worldwide Antenna Systems is going to deliver a 20-minute engineering paper Monday afternoon at 2:10 PM by David Maxson. Also representing WWAS to answer questions will be John Garrett in the Phasetek booth.

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StreamGuys will show 3 new products and services at NAB this year: A new version of the IsMyStreamUp monitoring service. It is  being re-released with an new UI and an API-First backend that will enable exciting future developments. Also, you will be able to see the new “Revenue Support” service, which plugs StreamGuys revenue experts into your operations. Finally, there will be an AI centered technology preview to optimize content production, featuring a powerful transcription capability.

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

... and 149 years ago (3/7/1876) Alexander Graham Bell granted first telephone patent for his invention. (Did he invent the busy signal, too?)

And here are a few other "newsy" items of interest:

and 189 years ago (3/2/1836) Texas declared its independence.

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May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR - and you!
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https://angryaudio.com/rave/
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* Reversing the decision to use the Magnavox system, the FCC threw AM Stereo to be "open to the marketplace." It did not work out well.

** The Spanish Flu really had nothing to do with Spain. During the years of WWI, wartime censors withheld early reports of illness from the major combatants. Spain - a "neutral" country - was more open, hence the number of reports made it look like Spain was the "hot spot." Recent reports from scientists hint it might have come from … China!

MIDWEEK BONUS

Have you ever wondered why you are on hold so long for customer support to answer? Is it because "we are experiencing a larger number than usual calls" or is it like the new policy at HP, where callers *must* wait at least 15 minutes?

A REAL FFE
If you are like everyone, once in a while you make a fat fingered error. However, it is likely not of the size of the recent one at Citigroup, where in an attempt to credit a customer with $280, the bank accidentally credited the customer with $81 Trillion. Yes, that is $81,000,000,000,000 with 12 zeros... a capital "T."

The funds were never actually moved to the customer's account, but the sum would be more than enough to buy the entire US stock market - worth "only" $62 Trillion - all of it, at a healthy premium, and still buy Elon Musk.

It was not the firs time for Citibank.

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PLEASE 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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