Re: How did you become a broadcast engineer?

"Michael A. Terrell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> 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.

Hi Michael, I hope you don't mind me throwing my take in here, on your
thread. I was an audio engineer first, took some courses in video, and
saw the relationships in signal flow, it clicked.

Next, I took a job as a master controller. Well, I didn't like the
quality, or the arrangement of the system, and opened Pandora's box,
if I screwed something up, I would stay as late as possible to fix it,
no matter what it was.

After realigning master control I started making productions. Then it
grew, and grew into a monster. Through all this you get aquainted with
all the aspects of signal preservation, calibration, design, sat
systems, automation, fiber, SDI, Mpeg2, remote trucks, routers, sync,
all the video formats, etc., sort of evolving thing. Production
lighting, script development, audio, video broadcast server
administration. Editing, post production, studio management, and more.
Gear recommendations too!

All I can say is, you have to love it, you have to see the results of
your work, and feel good about it. You never really clock out at
quitting time, as some of us are here are posting, sharing and still
learning. If you develop leadership skills, you CAN advance in this
trade. So bottom line for me was, I started tweaking and asking
questions, when I proved my ability, I was free to make decisions on
gear, systems, and make them have the highest quality, with
operational efficiency, and reliability. It is a job with many moments
of high stress. But, you get to work with some great people, and when
the shows meet all expectations, there is great satisfaction. You will
notice around you who is really into it. At times it can be lonely,
only because there may not be anyone around to share some idea's with,
or have tech chatter. There are many different paths in television,
you are not at all limited to engineering.

--Rick