Next SBE Chapter 59 Meeting
When: Wednesday, February 11, 2026
Where: Corinth Library Meeting Room – 8100 Mission Rd; Prairie Village, KS 66208
Gather at 11:30 a.m., lunch served at 11:45, meeting at noon
Program:
Codecs and Beyond. Many of us might not quite remember the early days of Comrex. Some of us, present company included, were not even born yet in 1961. The first products produced by our founder, John Chaney, at our little place in Sudbury, Massachusetts were some of the television industry’s first wireless mic and IFB devices. They were used on Broadway, by the NFL and by television stations all over the United States. A lot has changed since then, like our current digs in Devens, MA, but not the problems with frequency congestion that caused our shift in product line focus in the late 60s. We’ll discuss the issues that broadcasters, especially at sporting and live concert events, face when trying to do sideline or in-the-stands reporting in addition to covering some new solutions being offered by Comrex and other vendors.
About the Presenter
Chris Crump has served as the Sr. Director of Sales & Marketing for Comrex since 2004. In 1987, he began his professional radio career at ABC/Cap Cities Detroit before taking the Features Editor position at MediaBase Research/Monday Morning Replay. On-air, remote broadcast engineer, Creative Services Director roles followed for Capitol Broadcasting (subsequently Paxson Communications) in Orlando and the Ron & Ron Radio Network in Tampa/St. Petersburg. In 1996, Crump moved to the manufacturing side of the broadcast business performing sales & marketing roles for Spectral, Inc., Euphonix, Symetrix and Klotz Digital America. Crump resides in Buford, Georgia (outside of Atlanta) with his wife Seval, 20-year-old daughter Zara (currently enrolled at University of North Carolina Greensboro), their Affenpinscher Olive and Chihuahua Nugget. He is a CBNE certified member of SBE Chapter 5 in Atlanta as well Assistant Scoutmaster of Troops 597 and 5597 in Dacula, GA.
Chris Crump will be presenting via zoom. The chapter will be providing pizza for lunch.
Future Meeting Programs:
March 11: KCPT Transmitter
April 8: TBD
SAF ATSC 3.0 STL Requirements
At the chapter meeting on July 10, 2024, Kevin Dennis, Regional Sales Director of SAF North America, discussed some history of TV broadcast microwave solutions that support ATSC 1.0 signal transmission along with the technical considerations needed to convert and support ATSC 3.0 Next Generation Television signals. A unique “hybrid” microwave solution was also presented which can simultaneously support ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 signal transmission from the television studio to the transmitter site and is both robust and highly reliable. Here are the slides from the presentation (6.5 MB):
https://www.sbe59.org/files/special/Kansas_City_SBE59_ATSC3_STL_Requirements_July2024.pdf
LAWO – The Broadcast Industry’s Transition to IP.
At the May, 2020, monthly chapter meeting Austin Thomas gave a presentation on transitioning to IP based systems. The slides from the presentation are here (53 MB):
https://www.sbe59.org/files/special/Lawo_RealWorldIP_Mary2020.pdf
OCCU-TEC Fuel Management
At the August, 2019, monthly chapter meeting Brendon Butler and Jason Swan of OCCU-TEC Inc. presented a program on fuel maintenance for backup generators. The slides from the presentation are here:
https://www.sbe59.org/files/special/OCCU-TEC_Aug2019.pdf
Rohde & Schwarz Transmitter Technologies
At our May, 2019, monthly chapter meeting Don Backus gave a presentation on Rohde & Schwarz liquid cooled transmitter technology and total cost of ownership. Here are some of the slides from his presentation:
https://www.sbe59.org/files/special/LiquidCooled_TCO_May2019.pdf
Kansas City Shuffle – November 2017 Program
At our monthly chapter meeting on November 8, 2017, chapter member and broadcast consultant Greg Best gave a presentation on the 2017 FCC spectrum auction’s impact on the Kansas City television landscape. The slides from the presentation can be found here:
https://www.sbe59.org/files/special/Kansas_City_Shuffle_KC_SBE_Nov_2017.pdf
SBE 59 August Meeting – Wireless Spectrum
At the August monthly chapter meeting Chris Castro presented a program on wireless micrphones and spectrum coordination. Here is the powerpoint file for that program:
https://www.sbe59.org/files/special/SBE59_Aug2017_The%20Future%20of%20Wireless%20Mic.pptx
AMC 8 Transition Information
On February 8, 2017, Chris Childs of Satellite Engineering Group (SEG) gave a presentation to our SBE chapter on the AMC 8 satellite transition.
Here are his presentation slides:
https://www.sbe59.org/files/special/AMC8_Transition_Radio.pdf
He also supplied a link to another source of up-to-date information:
http://www.amc8migration.com/docs/RNUG_FAQ.pdf
National EAS Test Update (2016)
September 28th 1:20 PM central time…..that is the official date and time for the next National EAS test.
The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau has officially published notice that all EAS Participants are required to participate in the nationwide test.
In case anything arises to delay it (such as a real emergency, during which a test could cause confusion), a secondary test date is set for Oct. 5.
Items stations must take care before that date….
- Make sure your EAS equipment is programmed with the new national location code of six zeros (000000). This new code covers every state and county in the United States and should be programmed with National Periodic Test (NPT) event code. Deadline to have the new code programmed is July 30th.
- All EAS Participants must register with newEAS Test Reporting System. Click on ETRS registration page (you must have station FRN user name and password to enter this page).
You will be emailed a special user name and password for use to access the forms. You must file ETRS Form One by Aug. 26. Form two will be filed on the day of the test (September 28th) and form three must be filed by November 14th.
- Check you EAS logs to make sure you are receiving theIPAWS Required Weekly Test(RWT) each Monday at 11:00 AM local time.
“The test message will clearly state that the alert is only a test of the EAS,” the FCC bureau stated. “FEMA’s alert will be transmitted in English and Spanish and include both audio and the text of the test message, which can be used to populate an accessible video crawl. These improvements will help ensure that all members of the public, including non-English speakers and individuals with disabilities, will receive emergency information.
This information is courtesy of Larry Wilkins, Alabama Broadcasters Association
American Tower Corporation TV Repack Program
Our monthly meeting on May 18, 2016, was hosted by American Tower at one of their Kansas City area sites. They presented a program about the FCC’s spectrum auctions and the TV repacking to follow. Here are the slides from that presentation:
https://www.sbe59.org/files/special/ATC_Kansas%20City_MarketPresentation_May%2018th%202016.pdf
DTV Transmitter Efficiency Presentation (August, 2014)
At the regular chapter meeting in August, 2014, Perry Priestley of Anywave Communication Technolgies gave a presentation on DTV transmitter efficiency. Here are the slides from that presentation in PDF form:
https://www.sbe59.org/files/special/Anywave SBE Presentation 2014.pdf