It took five years and $750 million, but Sprint Nextel has successfully bumped the broadcast auxiliary services (BAS) of more than 1,000 TV stations out of the 2GHz band coveted by Sprint. The wireless company now will take over that part of the spectrum with the blessing of the Federal Communications Commission.

Everyone involved seems quite [...]]]>

It took five years and $750 million, but Sprint Nextel has successfully bumped the broadcast auxiliary services (BAS) of more than 1,000 TV stations out of the 2GHz band coveted by Sprint. The wireless company now will take over that part of the spectrum with the blessing of the Federal Communications Commission.

Everyone involved seems quite happy with the outcome. We certainly doff our hats to all the technicians and engineers who made it happen.

“The National Association of Broadcasters congratulates Sprint on completing the Herculean task of transitioning the broadcast auxiliary services to a new, more efficient spectrum plan in the 2GHz frequency band,” NAB chief Gordon Smith is quoted in Sprint’s July 21 announcement.

The Society of Broadcast Engineers played a key technical role in the transition. The Society’s Vinny Lopez expressed the unanimous view that cooperation among broadcast industry segments was critical to the success of the undertaking. “The Society’s partnership with Sprint in this effort is a great example of how all broadcast engineers serve and support our industry and make technology work for business, government and broadcasting.”

That’s absolutely true and something of a feather in the cap for the industry. In an era of political partisanship and turf battles, the general public in this case is the beneficiary of an arcane spectrum shuffle it didn’t even know was happening. Such cooperative and successful merging of private sector capital and a federal regulatory agency is something of an exception these days.

Sprint’s move was necessary because adjacent to its 800MHz slice of the broadcast spectrum, where 48 million wireless customers chat and text one another, is spectrum allocated for public-safety broadcasts. The spillover potential was deemed to be real.

So the FCC approved what in major league baseball is called a double switch. Sprint agreed to vacate the spectrum near the public-safety broadcasts and move to the spectrum blocks at 1910MHz-1915MHz and 1990MHz-1995MHz. Then, to avoid conflicts with TV mobile news gathering units also operating in the 2MHz range (specifically in the 1990MHz-2110MHz and 2025MHz-2110MHz part of the spectrum), Sprint agreed to facilitate moving of the TV stations’ BAS systems and to financially compensate them for their trouble.

(An aside: LBA Technology engineers know full well how maintaining a signal from a mobile news gathering unit can be tricky. A technical achievement that makes complete signal testing much easier is the Kathrein ADAM-3000 or MSK-200 TV Analyzer.)

The aforementioned $750 million spent by Sprint was largely expended replacing or retuning microwave and electronic news gathering equipment so it would function in the newly allocated bandwidth. Some 1,000 engineers, tower climbers and technicians were involved in the transition project and Sprint officials were pleased to report that not a single TV broadcast was disrupted during the five-year switchover.

Affected by Sprint’s switch were the mobile news gathering systems of 213 TV stations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico; the Anchorage, Alaska, TV market was the final one making the switch.

When the Alaska station’s transition was complete, Sprint executives must have expelled a huge sigh of relief. The undertaking had been so large that Sprint and FCC commissioners repeatedly underestimated how long it would take. The commissioners more than once had to extend the original completion date, which was 2007.

The breadth of LBA solutions can be seen on the Web in the LBA Technology Index.

In his trek around the country, host of the Taste of NAB Road Show, Larry Bloomfield has traveled down the west coast and across the southern coast.  Now he is coming into our own home territory, the east coast!

LBA will be sending two of their best, Paulo Fernandes and John George out to answer your [...]]]> In his trek around the country, host of the Taste of NAB Road Show, Larry Bloomfield has traveled down the west coast and across the southern coast.  Now he is coming into our own home territory, the east coast!

LBA will be sending two of their best, Paulo Fernandes and John George out to answer your questions on equipment such as the Kathrein-Schomandl ADAM3000 analog / digital TV Analyzer and MSK-200  DTV Signal Analyzer and health-protecting SafeOne Personal RF Monitor, as well as the new Taref3 high-precision master clock by German manufacturer R.A.M. Gmbh.

John will be in Knoxville, TN on July 26th, Greenville, SC on the 27th, and Charlotte, NC on the 29th.

Paulo will be in Hampton Roads, VA area on August 2nd, and the DC / Baltimore, MD area on August 4th.

Seek out these guys and ask them questions!  For the engineers in the area, this is a great opportunity to have any questions you may have about our products answered and see live demonstrations!

The calendar of local presentations is at http://tech-notes.tv/Taste_of_NAB.html.  Check the itinerary for contact details and specific addresses.

The explosion of interest in providing broadband connections throughout the US was evident at the FCC National Broadband Plan & WCAI Summer Summit. The Herndon, Virginia event was sponsored by the Wireless Communications Association International (WCAI), the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC), National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC), and DBC.

LBA Group CEO Lawrence Behr was a [...]]]> The explosion of interest in providing broadband connections throughout the US was evident at the FCC National Broadband Plan & WCAI Summer Summit. The Herndon, Virginia event was sponsored by the Wireless Communications Association International (WCAI), the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC), National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC), and DBC.

LBA Group CEO Lawrence Behr was a featured speaker. He spoke on the FCC renewal of Broadband Radio Service (BRS) licenses and the importance of providing substantial service to service areas through approved “safe harbors”. LBA provides a variety of technology services to broadband wireless applicants and operators.

Lawrence Behr visits with Bob Veltman, CEO of Octo-Wireless, a supplier of WiMax systems, during a program break.

Panelists contemplate an answer to a tough audience question during the WCAI Summit. Panel participants were (L to R) Kelley Dunne (DBC), moderator; William Wallace (DBC), discussing marketing best practices; Jeffrey Kohler (JAB Wireless), on financing and operations; and Lawrence Behr (Lawrence Behr Associates), who focused on Substantial Service and regulatory issues.

Free mobile digital TV is coming to a device near you sooner than you might have expected. Free mobile digital TV test broadcasts in Washington, DC, this summer have respondents chirping enthusiastically about the ability to pick up local TV programming on the go. Most test responders are stipulating “high excitement” about having access.

It is [...]]]> Free mobile digital TV is coming to a device near you sooner than you might have expected. Free mobile digital TV test broadcasts in Washington, DC, this summer have respondents chirping enthusiastically about the ability to pick up local TV programming on the go. Most test responders are stipulating “high excitement” about having access.

It is another step in the race to total electronic connectivity for consumers. For those of us in the industry, it means potential new markets for broadcast and test equipment still being engineered.

The  technology is being test marketed by an industry advocacy group called the Open Mobile Video Coalition. The group is a consortium of 1,000 TV stations and media groups who are rolling out the concept of free mobile digital TV in several markets. The 200 District of Columbia-area participating residents have been equipped with a Samsung receiver with a tuner chip. A few hundred other residents will be introduced to the test broadcasts via provided laptops and iPads.

Sprint is participating in the free mobile digital TV test and has evinced interest in being a carrier of such transmissions. That excites the National Association of Broadcasters.

All this budding excitement is a byproduct of the nationwide mandated transition to digital-only TV broadcasting, which scrubbed the airwaves of lots of analog transmissions and freed it up for new digital services. Full-motion, free mobile digital TV promoters are claiming some of it for their own.

If kinks are ironed out and standards agreed upon, live local digital TV broadcasts will become an option on cell phones and netbooks, PDAs and fixed devices in vehicles. Both commercial and emergency public safety transmissions will become part of America’s mobile existence, as it already is in some Asian countries. It will be possible – regrettably, if getting away is your goal – to be digitally connected all the time, everywhere to what is going on in the world.

From the broadcast industry’s perspective, free mobile digital TV offers new markets for them and their advertisers. Leaving home, work or school will not mean leaving behind full access to free, local TV programming. It not only extends the reach of network broadcasts, it lends itself to new programming possibilities.

Consumer electronics manufacturers are delighted at the prospect of creating new, sophisticated receivers for mobile digital TV and selling them to tens of millions of end-users of the technology. The devices use a new broadcast format that lets fast-moving personal devices securely latch on for uninterrupted, high-quality viewing. LC Electronics and Samsung hold patents on the chip that makes it all possible.

The revolution in audio and video communication races ahead. LBA offers state-of-the art test and support equipment for digital TV broadcasting. Go to http://www.lbagroup.com/technology/schomandl_kathrein_main.php for the Kathrein line of digital signal analyzers, and http://www.lbagroup.com/technology/timing-synchronization.php for precision digital time references and atomic accuracy master clocks.

Britain and other European countries are forging the path to convert to digital radio this decade, with plans to discontinue analog radio altogether. The future of digital radio in the United States is also a hot topic for debate. Canada, however, appears to be backtracking in their approach. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. told the Canadian [...]]]> Britain and other European countries are forging the path to convert to digital radio this decade, with plans to discontinue analog radio altogether. The future of digital radio in the United States is also a hot topic for debate. Canada, however, appears to be backtracking in their approach. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. told the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission that it was shutting down its DAB radio transmitters, beginning with Eureka-147; the same L-band DAB system that just over a decade ago launched with tremendous fanfare in Montreal. The signals being shut off are CBME-DR-1, CBM-DR-1, CBF-DR-1 and CBFX-DR-1 Montréal, Quebec.

According to the DAB website, 73 DAB radio stations were licensed in Canada as of March. With the CBC signals being shut down, it is likely any remaining commercial DAB radio stations will follow suit.

The end of the DAB radio signals shows what the CBC has known for years; the promises made for DAB radio including new services for niche audiences never came to fruition. Having barely improved audio quality to sell unaffordable receivers that could be used only in large markets, DAB radio failed to get a foothold. Even early in the adoption, the engineers that maintain the DAB radio transmitters were complaining of unreliable signals. Several commercial DAB radio stations out of Toronto were off the air for long periods in 2009, yet they had few, if any, complaints from listeners. Not that this is a big surprise, there are estimates that show that less than 1,000 DAB radio receivers were ever sold since the system was put into operation a decade ago.

Another possible reason for the failure of DAB radio in Canada could be the fact that the DAB radio receivers operate using L-band, which in Canada is 1452-1492 MHz, while DAB radio receivers in other countries broadcast on Band III, a VHF band between 174–230 MHz. Also, Canadian DAB radio receivers must accommodate both English and French languages. The decision by the US to use a different digital radio technology than what was in place in Canada made it difficult for DAB radio receiver manufacturers to make units for both markets. This was particularly difficult for car manufacturers who instead turned their support toward digital satellite radio.

The CRTC was aware of the problems with DAB radio and made a number of changes in an effort to bolster the adoption of the technology. Stations were allowed to air different programs on the digital stations than what they offered over analog. They also allowed FM IBOC transmissions, should the stations choose to go this route.

Broadcasters in smaller markets have resisted investing in the equipment necessary to be part of a transmission “pod”, where five stations can occupy less than 20% of the total bandwidth of just one 1.5 MHz channel. The stations in the pod each cover about the same area and have equivalent power levels.

The differences between DAB radio and IBOC may help IBOC’s adoption in Canada. DAB radio uses only digital in the L-band and had no option of analog like an iBiquity system. Canadian broadcasters currently air simulcasts, with a copy of their analog programs going to the digital channels, whereas HD Radio can use multicast channels. The biggest issue is with needing investment in new digital transmission equipment in a down economy.

LBA Technology is a leading manufacturer and integrator of radio frequency systems, components and test equipment for broadcast, industrial and government users worldwide.

Like a re-radiating RF signal, positive feedback about a Lawrence Behr Associates engineering job keeps bouncing around cyberspace.

Components of LBA Group helped clear the way for an electric power distribution project in New York state, a job that finally wrapped up earlier this year after more than two years of work. The project required detuning [...]]]> Like a re-radiating RF signal, positive feedback about a Lawrence Behr Associates engineering job keeps bouncing around cyberspace.

Components of LBA Group helped clear the way for an electric power distribution project in New York state, a job that finally wrapped up earlier this year after more than two years of work. The project required detuning of power lines emanating from a new natural gas-fired power plant near Rensselaer, N.Y. owned by Empire Generating Company.

The plant’s 8 miles of overhead distribution lines cut through an AM radio broadcast area, jeopardizing the integrity of the radio station’s transmissions. The giant metal towers had the potential to re-transmit the station’s signals, which not only would have disrupted broadcasts but also run afoul of the Federal Communication Commission’s licensing provisions.

You can read a complete published account of the engineering feat in an article by CEO Lawrence Behr at http://www.elp.com/index/display/article-display/5732562163/articles/electric-light-power/volume-88/issue-3/sections/detuning_engineers-curb.html.

The shorter version is that Empire’s engineering consultant, CH2M Hill, asked Lawrence Behr Associates to investigate the situation and mitigate any re-radiation threat to the AM station. With the help of LBA Technology detuning hardware, Associates did exactly that, detuning the towers so that their presence in the RF field became illusory and inconsequential.

Publication of the detuning article this month in Electric Light & Power Magazine coincides with a Linked In posting by the CH2M Hill project manager on the power plant job. In his posting, manager John Shepard conveyed his complete satisfaction with the engineering work by Lawrence Behr Associates.

““I hired the LBA Group to perform a complex task of RF analysis and mitigation in the regulatory heavy state of New York. Their performance not only exceeded my expectations, but they were able to develop customized solutions for one of our stakeholders, a large utility in the Northeast, that enabled our project to move forward without any delays.”

The detuning exercise was a win-win for everyone. The generating company got its plant up and running. Station WGDJ-AM retained its talk show audience and license. And LBA Group demonstrated its capacity to let power lines and radio stations co-exist in intersecting situations.

You can read more about LBA’s detuning engineering and technology on our AM Detuning homepage.

Engineers, grab your Blackberries. Scroll down to an open summer date on your calendar and plug in The Taste of NAB Road Show. It’s back!

Co-sponsored by LBA Technology, the Taste of NAB Road Show is returning for a 9th year, bringing to broadcast engineers and technicians where they live the latest [...]]]> Engineers, grab your Blackberries. Scroll down to an open summer date on your calendar and plug in The Taste of NAB Road Show. It’s back!

Co-sponsored by LBA Technology, the Taste of NAB Road Show is returning for a 9^th year, bringing to broadcast engineers and technicians where they live the latest electronic equipment and ideas showcased in Las Vegas at the National Association of Broadcasters convention.

In the month of July, host Larry Bloomfield and his fellow roadshow presenters will traverse Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, and LBA’s own home state of North Carolina.

Fifty-three one-day programs are scheduled for the Taste of NAB Road Show at stops in about 30 states. It is an ambitious undertaking, which Bloomfield justifies as necessary “so that some of the new technology from the NAB convention will get out to the grassroots engineers that didn’t make it to the big one in the desert.”

Organizers stress that the roadshow is not a sales event. Rather, it is an informational platform. The team of presenters will introduce such breakthrough technology as the Kathrein-Schomandl ADAM3000 analog / digital TV Analyzer and MSK-200  DTV Signal Analyzer and health-protecting SafeOne Personal RF Monitor, as well as the new Taref3 high-precision master clock by German manufacturer R.A.M. Gmbh. Because these pieces of equipment are exclusively distributed by LBA Technology, an LBA consultant will be on hand at many of the presentations.

The programs often are coordinated with local chapters of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers. Some chapters have been known to turn the event into a barbecue social. Yet food is not why thousands of engineers have turned the Taste of NAB Road Show into a main attraction; they show up each year to see the newest equipment, hear technical presentations, compare notes with their peers – and only then maybe eat a little.

Attendees also will have a chance to win door prizes. LBA Technology is sponsoring two $50 Amazon gift cards.

The calendar of local presentations is at http://tech-notes.tv/Taste_of_NAB.html.  Check the itinerary for contact details and specific addresses.

Bloomfield is a broadcast industry consultant and for 10 years has been host of an online industry forum site – www.Tech-Notes.TV – from which the annual Taste of NAB Road Show sprang.

July 13th, 2010 – Tampa, FL

July 14th, 2010 – Miami, FL

July 15th, 2010 – West Palm Beach, FL

July 19th, 2010 – Jacksonville, FL

July 21st, 2010 – Jackson, MS

July 22nd, 2010 – Montgomery, AL

July 23rd, 2010 – Nashville, TN

July 26th, 2010 – Knoxville, TN

July 27th, 2010 – Greenville, SC

July 28th, 2010 – Columbia, SC

July 29th, 2010 – Charlotte, NC

July 30th, 2010 – Greensboro, NC

Running now through Sept. 10, the Taste of NAB Roadshow gives engineers an opportunity to have a hands-on, educational look at many of the key technologies introduced to the professional broadcast market at the 2010 NAB Show in Las Vegas.

For those who don’t know, Riverside, CA is the home of [...]]]> Running now through Sept. 10, the Taste of NAB Roadshow gives engineers an opportunity to have a hands-on, educational look at many of the key technologies introduced to the professional broadcast market at the 2010 NAB Show in Las Vegas.

For those who don’t know, Riverside, CA is the home of the mostly now de‐commissioned March Air Force Base – (now called March Air Reserve Base) where part of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) was once based. It is located about 55 – 60 miles east of down town Los Angeles, CA. The American Forces Network (once called Armed Forces Radio & TV Service or AFRTS) is housed at this Air Reserve Base in a very modern facility.

A significantly large percentage of the military and civilians at AFN make up the membership of SBE Chapter 131 and much of civilian broadcast community east of Los Angeles. The national SBE website shows eighty‐nine members currently listed with sixty‐eight certified. This is one of the highest ratios of members vs. certified members in the nation. This chapter has a lot to be proud of.

The audience for this stop on the Taste of NAB Roadshow was composed of mostly of military personnel in casual uniforms, contractors from Taft Broadcasting (they help with the operation and maintenance of the facility), a few DOD employees and some of the local civilian broadcast community. Should you ever visit this facility, you’ll be impressed with the competence and significantly high level of technical skills that these folks have.

LBA’s own John George was on hand for the Riverside  stop on the Taste of NAB Roadshow. John was there to demonstrate and answer questions on such breakthrough technology as the Kathrein-Schomandl ADAM3000 analog / digital TV Analyzer and MSK-200  DTV Signal Analyzer and health-protecting SafeOne Personal RF Monitor, as well as the new Taref3 high-precision master clock by German manufacturer R.A.M. Gmbh.

The very next day, the Taste of NAB Roadshow visited Los Angeles and another one of our own, Paulo Fernandes made an appearance. The SBE in Los Angeles is predominately a radio based group, despite being the 2nd largest television market in the US serving over 5,659,170 households which is 4.927% of America’s viewing audience. The television folks are more into SMPTE and STE. STE (Society of Television Engineers) is an organization that only exists in Los Angeles.

Greenville Noon Rotary Club, LBA Technology, and Ferguson Enterprises joined efforts to send tents to the earthquake victims in Haiti.

When Javier Castillo, Director of Broacast Sales received an e-mail from Gilbert Fontaine whose company Power Tech Services is a client of LBA Technology in Haiti, he asked him how could we be of help and [...]]]> Greenville Noon Rotary Club, LBA Technology, and Ferguson Enterprises joined efforts to send tents to the earthquake victims in Haiti.

When Javier Castillo, Director of Broacast Sales received an e-mail from Gilbert Fontaine whose company Power Tech Services is a client of LBA Technology in Haiti, he asked him how could we be of help and Fontaine’s answer was we need tents.  As a survivor of the 1972 earthquake in Managua Nicaragua, Castillo knows first hand what its like not having a home; for several months he slept on a tent setup at a relative’s farm.

Immediately Castillo moved to action, identified a supplier and a tent type and asked members of his Rotary Club, The Greenville Noon, and relatives a and friends to donate the previously identified tents to send to Haiti.  People reacted quickly and tents started arriving to LBA Technology from California, Virginia and North Carolina.

The obstacle on how to ship the tents to Haiti was solved by Gilbert Fontaine who told Castillo, if you get the tents, Power Tech will pay for the ocean freight to Port au Princem and he gave the contact of a shipping company in Miami.

The shipment of the tents to Miami was done through the services of Charles Tudor, (Past President of the Greenville Noon Rotary) Vice President of Ferguson Enterprises who made arrangements for Ferguson to pick up the tents and ship them to Miami once the staff at LBA Technology had them ready.

LBA Employees packaging the tents for Haiti

Engineers, grab your Blackberries. Scroll down to an open summer date on your calendar and plug in The Taste of NAB Roadshow. It’s back!

Co-sponsored by LBA Technology, the roadshow is returning for a 9th year, bringing to broadcast engineers and technicians where they live the latest electronic equipment and ideas showcased in Las [...]]]> Engineers, grab your Blackberries. Scroll down to an open summer date on your calendar and plug in The Taste of NAB Roadshow. It’s back!

Co-sponsored by LBA Technology, the roadshow is returning for a 9^th year, bringing to broadcast engineers and technicians where they live the latest electronic equipment and ideas showcased in Las Vegas at the National Association of Broadcasters convention.

In the month of June, host Larry Bloomfield and his fellow roadshow presenters will traverse Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana, including a 2 day stop at the New Mexico Broadcast Association Convention.

Fifty-three one-day programs are scheduled at stops in about 30 states. It is an ambitious undertaking, which Bloomfield justifies as necessary “so that some of the new technology from the NAB convention will get out to the grassroots engineers that didn’t make it to the big one in the desert.”

Organizers stress that the roadshow is not a sales event. Rather, it is an informational platform. The team of presenters will introduce such breakthrough technology as the Kathrein-Schomandl ADAM3000 analog / digital TV Analyzer and MSK-200  DTV Signal Analyzer and health-protecting SafeOne Personal RF Monitor, as well as the new Taref3 high-precision master clock by German manufacturer R.A.M. Gmbh. Because these pieces of equipment are exclusively distributed by LBA Technology, an LBA consultant will be on hand at many of the presentations.

The programs often are coordinated with local chapters of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers. Some chapters have been known to turn the event into a barbecue social. Yet food is not why thousands of engineers have turned the roadshow into a main attraction; they show up each year to see the newest equipment, hear technical presentations, compare notes with their peers – and only then maybe eat a little.

Attendees also will have a chance to win door prizes. LBA Technology is sponsoring two $50 Amazon gift cards.

The calendar of local presentations is at http://tech-notes.tv/Taste_of_NAB.html.  Check the itinerary for contact details and specific addresses.

Bloomfield is a broadcast industry consultant and for 10 years has been host of an online industry forum site – www.Tech-Notes.TV – from which the annual roadshow sprang.

Taste of NAB Roadshow June 2010

June 4th, 2010 – Pheonix, AZ
June 7th, 2010 – Tucson, AZ
June 9th, 2010 – El Paso, TX
June 11th-12th, 2010 – Albuquerque, NM
June 15th, 2010 – Wichita, KS
June 17th, 2010 – Tulsa, OK
June 21st, 2010 – Dallas, TX
June 22nd, 2010 – Bryan, TX
June 23rd, 2010 – San Antonio, TX
June 24th, 2010 – Rio Grande Valley, TX
June 25th, 2010 – Houston, TX
June 26th, 2010 – Beaumont, TX
June 28th, 2010 – Shreveport, LA
June 30th, 2010 – New Orleans, LA

Engineers, grab your Blackberries. Scroll down to an open summer date on your calendar and plug in The Taste of NAB Roadshow. It’s back!

Co-sponsored by LBA Technology, the roadshow is returning for a 9th year, bringing to broadcast engineers and technicians where they live the latest electronic equipment and ideas showcased in Las Vegas at [...]]]> Engineers, grab your Blackberries. Scroll down to an open summer date on your calendar and plug in The Taste of NAB Roadshow. It’s back!

Co-sponsored by LBA Technology, the roadshow is returning for a 9^th year, bringing to broadcast engineers and technicians where they live the latest electronic equipment and ideas showcased in Las Vegas at the National Association of Broadcasters convention.

The traveling exhibit and educational forum hits the road this week (May 11) in Portland, Ore. Before it comes to the end of the road in the middle of September, host Larry Bloomfield and his fellow roadshow presenters will have crisscrossed the continental United States.

Fifty-three one-day programs are scheduled at stops in about 30 states. It is an ambitious undertaking, which Bloomfield justifies as necessary “so that some of the new technology from the NAB convention will get out to the grassroots engineers that didn’t make it to the big one in the desert.”

Organizers stress that the roadshow is not a sales event. Rather, it is an informational platform. The team of presenters will introduce such breakthrough technology as the Kathrein-Schomandl ADAM3000 analog / digital TV Analyzer and MSK-200  DTV Signal Analyzer and health-protecting SafeOne Personal RF Monitor, as well as the new Taref3 high-precision master clock by German manufacturer R.A.M. Gmbh. Because these pieces of equipment are exclusively distributed by LBA Technology, an LBA consultant will be on hand at many of the presentations.

The programs often are coordinated with local chapters of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers. Some chapters have been known to turn the event into a barbecue social. Yet food is not why thousands of engineers have turned the roadshow into a main attraction; they show up each year to see the newest equipment, hear technical presentations, compare notes with their peers – and only then maybe eat a little.

Attendees also will have a chance to win door prizes. LBA Technology is sponsoring two $50 Amazon gift cards.

Because West Coast broadcast engineers are first in line for the roadshow, they had better check the Taste of NAB schedule today. The calendar of local presentations is at http://tech-notes.tv/Taste_of_NAB.html.  Check the itinerary for contact details and specific addresses.

Bloomfield is a broadcast industry consultant and for 10 years has been host of an online industry forum site – www.Tech-Notes.TV – from which the annual roadshow sprang.

Taste of NAB Roadshow May

May 11th, 2010 – Portland, OR

May 12th, 2010 – Eugene, OR

May 13th, 2010 – Medford, OR

May 15th, 2010 – Napa, CA

May 17th, 2010 – Reno, NV

May 20th, 2010 – Sacramento, CA

May 21st, 2010 – San Francisco, CA (RSVP REQUIRED!!!)

May 26th, 2010 – Inland Empire – Riverside, CA

May 27th, 2010 – Los Angeles, CA

It’s all about MW broadcast transmission issues 50 KW to 2,000,000 watts – information exchange and discussions, sponsored by LBA.

High power MW broadcasting is by no means dead, but many engineers with high power MW expertise are passing out of the industry. We hope to establish a forum for preserving the [...]]]>

It’s all about MW broadcast transmission issues 50 KW to 2,000,000 watts – information exchange and discussions, sponsored by LBA.

High power MW broadcasting is by no means dead, but many engineers with high power MW expertise are passing out of the industry. We hope to establish a forum for preserving the decades of knowledge many practitioner’s hold.

We invite you to share also the funny stories and the horror stories of working at this power level, new design tips, field maintenance, and application of new digital technologies to high power. Sign up through http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=135532&trk=anet_ug_parent. If you aren’t a LinkedIn member, please join. It’s great professional networking and free.

LBA is a world leader in high powered broadcasting equipment and services. Please contact Jerry Brown for your requirements.

In 2009, LBA Group Inc. faced the same economic challenge as every other company. It met the challenge by resourcefully building customer value. LBA Group Founder Lawrence Behr talks about the synergism of businesses  interacting during stressful times.

BSD: What do you mean when you say the LBA Group of companies is ‘resourceful’?

LB: Essentially I [...]]]>

In 2009, LBA Group Inc. faced the same economic challenge as every other company. It met the challenge by resourcefully building customer value. LBA Group Founder Lawrence Behr talks about the synergism of businesses  interacting during stressful times.

BSD: What do you mean when you say the LBA Group of companies is ‘resourceful’?

LB: Essentially I mean we have answers to broadcasters’ urgent questions. Some of the answers are superior products we offer—including the Kathrein-Schomandl test equipment that we exclusively distribute in this part of the world.  Some answers come from 47 years of evolving with the industry; the experience we’ve gained is an incomparable consulting resource.

And LBA Technology fabricates solutions for opportunities. Thanks to a very fine staff assembled by Jerry Brown, President of LBA Technology, we engineer and build innovative hardware packages that meet broadcasters’ needs.

To sum it up, we have needed components on our shelves, we have consulting expertise and we can design and build systems—we are, in a word, resourceful.

BSD: And this versatility helped LBA Group weather the economic tumult?

LB: Yes, but it also helped our customers weather the storm. Broadcasters turned to us for reliable, innovative  solutions. For example, we won over new customers by introducing economical TV signal analyzers by Kathrein; the instruments reduce transmission errors and resulting financial losses.

Or consider our AM customers. They learned in this recession that better utilization of their towers and land is smart. To that end, we engineered colocation of wireless antennas on several AM station towers and smarter use of ground systems.

In another area, we delivered to a New York state electric company a cost-effective AM detuning solution for some re-radiation problems its towers posed for a radio station. By contracting with us, the company avoided the wrath of the FCC and the much higher expense of rerouting its distribution line.

BSD:  So your customers are AM, television and wireless?

LB: Our customer is any company interacting in any way with radio frequency signals. I created an overall acronym—
CARF, which stands for Control and Application of Radio Frequencies—and that’s where we are as a group of companies. Everything we do relates to that.

BSD: 2010 looks shaky. Do you foresee an economic rebound?

LB: Better ask an economist. All I know is that LBA Group will continue to be resourceful in meeting whatever comes along.

This company started, you know, in the transmission end of AM radio in the United States. Today, LBA systems and services touch every continent— Africa, the Middle East, the Far East, even Antarctica.

We diversified. We designed equipment for military use, developed laboratory shielding systems, became a major distributor of components. We have a trademark—RFGreen®—attesting to our concern for the RF environment.

Our very latest engineering focus is equipping broadcasters for precision TV timing and synchronization. There’s no latitude in digital TV for sloppy handling of a signal. Extremely fast digital pulses require GPS-based synchronization. Now LBA Technology can help broadcasters meet these stringent transmission standards and ‘Excel in the Digital World.’ LBA constantly changes to meet customer needs. In so doing, we reward both the company and its satisfied customers.

Original article can be found in Broadcasters Show Daily publication, April 14 & 15, 2010.