Re: How did you become a broadcast engineer?

Gene Seibel wrote:
> 
> Things were different when I started int he early 70's. I took a
> correspondence course form CIE (Cleveland Institute of Electronics)
> and got my FIrst Class FCC license. Then I found a radio station that
> needed some one with a license to babysit their transmitter and worked
> my way up through on-the-job experience and training. Don't know how
> one would do it today. There seems to be an abundance of people with
> computer,  video and audio knowledge, but no new transmitter people.
> --
> Gene Seibel

  I backed into broadcast in 1973. I was drafted in 1972, and after
being told I would drive a truck, or be a cook, I raised hell, insisting
I work in electronics, like I did before I was drafted. They told me
they would prove I didn't know anything, and gave me their test for
"Television Equipment Repairman", or army talk for broadcast engineer. I
ended up working at a B&W TV station at Ft. Greely AK.

   Years later I worked for WACX (Ch 55) in Orlando Florida, and moved
their original transmitter to Destin Florida for a station that was
being built on Ch 58. Since then I have worked in telemetry receiver
manufacturing (Microdyne) until two years ago because no one around here
wants anyone with RF experience. The radio stations here use low bidder
contract engineers, and the TV stations seem to think they have to hire
from outside the area.

   I have worked on low power (250 Watts) at Ft Greely, a full 5 MW at
Ch 55, and the transmitter I moved and rebuilt was an old RCA TTU-25B
that was the remains of two transmitters after the original exciter
burnt. 

  I worked all areas of broadcast engineering: RF, video, audio, test
equipment and building things we couldn't buy. I had to find a quick and
dirty way to monitor the tower lights at Ch55's old tower in Lisbon, Fl,
and only had two days to have it in place. I had a spare audio channel
on the STL, to the new transmitter in Orange City, so I used a crystal
oscillator and a binary divider to get 1024 Hz, filtered it to a sine
wave, and gated it with the output of a comparator that monitored
current to the tower lights. When all the lights were on, it turned the
1024 Hz off. At the other end, I used a 567 tone decoder and put a small
indicator near the master monitor so the transmitter operator could see
it flash, and log the time. It saved us a lot of money, and a possible
fine because there was nothing available in time, due to a rules change.
-- 


Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida