Our July Newsletter is now posted on the Newsletter page.
This month’s meeting is the chapter picnic at the WBAY/WPNE Transmitter Site, 4121 Heritage Rd/Hwy X. Hwy GV is closed at Heritage Rd, so plan your route accordingly. If you have not RSVP-ed yet, please do so.
Our June 2015 newsletter is now posted.
The May 2015 Newsletter has been posted on the Newsletter page. Check it out!
Our April 2015 Newsletter is now posted on the Newsletter page.
Our March Newsletter has been posted on the Newsletter page.
This message about the April Tornado Warning Statewide Test comes to us from the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association.
In cooperation with Wisconsin Emergency Management, the National Weather Service will conduct a test of the real Tornado Warning EAS Code on April 16, 2015 as part of Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week. The State of Wisconsin has received a waiver from the FCC to use the actual EAS Tornado Warning Code for this statewide test. If there is a threat of severe weather, the test will be postponed until April 17, 2015. If there is severe weather on April 17, the test will be cancelled.
The audio of this test will repeat several times in the script “This is a Test”, but because the real EAS Tornado Warning Code is being sent, the crawl on TV stations and cable systems will read “A Tornado Warning has been issued for…”. Thus we ask that TV broadcasters and cable operators making the decision to air the test should display a “This is a Test” graphic behind the crawl.
The test will be originated on NOAA Weather Radio (NWR), and will be relayed via the State Relay (SR) and Local Primary (LP) stations. The EAS “TOR” Code will be sent independently by all five NWS offices serving Wisconsin, following the schedule below. Broadcasters and cable operators that monitor SR or LP stations from multiple EAS Operational Areas or directly monitor NWR from another EAS Operational Area may receive more than one Tornado Warning alert; since these alerts are sent independently from each NWS office they will not be recognized by EAS units as duplicates if alerts are received from two different EAS Operational Areas. It is also possible that some NWR stations may broadcast more than one TOR Code as some NWR stations serve counties from more than one NWS office.
This will be the schedule for April 16, 2015 (or if there is severe weather on April 16, test will be conducted on April 17, 2015):
1:00PM – Tornado Watch “TOA” EAS Code issued
1:45PM – Tornado Warning “TOR” EAS Code issued by all NWS offices serving Wisconsin counties*
Originator Code: WXR
EAS Code: TOR
EAS Duration: 15 minutes
*This test is being coordinated with the State of Minnesota. Stations in the border area will receive both Wisconsin and Minnesota counties in the same coordinated TOR Tornado Warning EAS message at 1:45PM. Michigan will also do its statewide Tornado Drill on April 16th at 2:45 p.m. EST (1:45 p.m. Central).
Thanks to everyone who made it to our February meeting and the tour of the Kaukauna hydroelectric plant! Here are a few pictures from the meeting.
The February 2015 Newsletter has been posted on the Newsletter page.
Included in the newsletter is more information on our February meeting – a tour of the Kaukauna Hydroelectric Plant.
The January 2015 newsletter is now posted on the Newsletter page.
Elmo Reed passed away this past Wednesday, December 31, 2014.
On December 31st 2014, the broadcast engineering community lost a pioneer, a mentor, a friend and all around great guy when Elmo W. Reed passed away.
Elmo is probably best known locally as the long-time Director of Engineering of the Post Corporation and WLUK TV 11. He will truly be missed by all in the broadcast engineering community. I could not begin to do justice to all of his experiences and contributions, but will try to mention a few. Elmo was born in 1917 near Mineral Point, WI and grew up on a farm near Eldora, IA and in Freeport, Illinois. He entered the RCA Institute in Chicago and graduated in 1936. He then took the exam for the FCC First Class Radio Telephone license – which at that time he spent 4 days completing and turned in 35 handwritten pages! (Of course he passed with flying colors!)
Soon after this he obtained a job as an engineer at WROK in Rockford, Illinois. He was working there when World War II broke out, so he joined the Army. While in the service he attended radar school and was a key player in developing and implementing what was then a cutting edge technology that helped the Allies win that conflict. After the war when he returned home, he and June were married and they moved to Green Bay. Elmo was now the Chief Engineer at WJPG AM 1440. Elmo did pioneering work in FM broadcasting at WJPG, but was ahead of his time and WJPG FM was turned off like many other early FM stations.
When the Post Corporation split from the Press Gazette and WJPG, Elmo stayed with Post Corporation and became chief engineer at WEAU TV in Eau Claire. A long career at Post Corporation followed, with Elmo taking on many different technical leadership roles and doing many significant and interesting projects. He retired from Post Corporation as the Director of Engineering in 1984.
My favorite story about Elmo took place in 1992, about 8 years after his retirement. I was working on my first major rebuild of a complicated AM directional antenna system and put the word out that I was interested in hiring a number of engineers to help me in their spare time. Elmo answered the call and I was delighted. I looked forward to learning from his superior experience on the subject. When it came time to do the “walk outs”, who was first in line but Elmo Reed! Now I need to explain to some of you – “walk outs” are a series of field measurements done by a two man crew carrying heavy test equipment and a measuring chain and walking for miles through all sorts of terrain and obstacles. This was strenuous work and something I was not looking forward to as a 35 year old broadcast engineer in reasonably good shape. So I was uncomfortable when Elmo volunteered – after all, he was in his 70s at the time! So I manipulated things so that I would be teamed with Elmo and quietly whispered to the consultant – “we won’t be out long – so don’t expect much from us”. Then off we went.
Well I was certainly taken to school that day – it was all I could do to KEEP UP with Elmo! I found myself winded and falling behind. Just when I thought I had seen it all, we came up to a 6 foot chain link fence protecting some property where the radial needed to be measured. I was starting to mark the field sheet as “not accessible” when Elmo yelled “What are you waiting for!” and clambered over the fence! I had no choice but to follow. An hour or so later, we were the first team back to the transmitter with a full field sheet. And then we went out again.
Elmo was a true inspiration to me and my career and to many others I am sure. He always made time to share and teach with those of us less experienced. I am truly grateful for having known him and receiving his mentoring and friendship.
Steve Brown, SBE Chapter 80, Fox Valley WI
SBE Chapter 80 