Barry Mishkind

The Broadcasters' Desktop Resource

... edited by Barry Mishkind - the Eclectic Engineer

This Week’s Newsletter

 
Greetings from your broadcast friends out on the Desert…
This is BDR Newsletter 839, Volume 17, #6 for September 10, 2025

DEADLINE FOR PAYING REGULATORY FEES
Late last Friday the FCC issued a Public Notice indicating that payment of the Year 2025 Regulatory Fees are due no later than September 25, 2025. Payment of these fees must be done using the CORES Payment System. If you have not got a CORES login account, you need to register: https://apps2.fcc.gov/fccUserReg/pages/login.htm
 
Last year there were many errors in the CORES Payment System so before you submit payment it would be wise to check the accuracy of the pre-filled data. Furthermore, CORES often experiences glitches and outages and is often inaccessible for hours at a time.
 
If you would like assistance with paying your regulatory fees you can contact Cary Tepper at tepperlaw@aol.com.

NRSC
We did offer reminders during the year about the need to get the NRSC measurements done. Not just to meet the FCC Rules, but for the diagnostic benefits to the station. The NRSC can identify problems growing in the RF system. Want to know more? Check out the article James Boyd did for us. Also, here is one from Norm Laramee. This might be good to share with ownership/management.

FM ANTENNA TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION
Not all antennas are created equal – and once an FM antenna is mounted and exposed to the natural elements, often little maintenance is done until some major issue that clearly cripples the signal. Preparing for installation of a new antenna or the replacement of one that has been in place for years really does require planning. Is antenna technology at its peak – or are there new features that can improve your signal?  

Our guest presenter this week is Mersedeh Najishabahang; one of the newest EEs at Dielectric, Mersedeh has a PhD in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Maine. She will be discussing the Dielectric DCPC broadband, circular, panel FM antenna that was officially launched this past June. The concept of the design challenge was to develop a broadband panel with a single input without the use of hybrids and a single balun tube.

Join us on Thursday at 2 PM Eastern / 11 AM Pacific.

As usual, we meet at 2 PM Eastern (11 AM Pacific) on Thursday. Link requests are easily found at www.theBDR.net/TLG/ Our videos are also shown on the youtube.com/thebdrnet channel.

May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!


9/11 REMEMBERED
24 years later, there are a still lot of strong feelings regarding the way 3000 people were killed by terrorists. Not to make light of any of them, broadcasters do remember our colleagues who were working on the 110th floor of the World Trade Center, and literally went down with the antenna … and building”

Rod Coppola, WNET
Don DiFranco, WABC-TV
Steven Jacobson, WPIX-TV
Bill Steckman, WNBC-TV
Bob Pattison and Isias Rivera, WCBS-TV
Their pictures are here

AM IN EVERY VEHICLE CONTINUES TO GROW
Saying they “heard from constituents, the AM in Every Vehicle Bill is now supported by 61 senators and 280 Representatives, it is looking more and more likely that it will pass at some point.

ALERT MESSAGES TESTED IN THE UK
The British national emergency alert system was tested earlier this week. Apparently directed to mobile phones, the government said it was a general success and “tens of millions of phones successfully sounded” all over the country. A few reports of garbled messages were reported by the BBC, along with reports of people startled by the sound.

HOW IMPORTANT IS RADIO?
Here at home there is a continuing debate on whether broadcast media are truly critical infrastructure in an emergency. While many stations do little more than the required RWT/RMT/EAS – for an assortment of reasons – in general, the industry likes to be considered “critical infrastructure” … and worthy of extra consideration … even though they rarely broadcast important alerts.

NO NON-COMPETE BAN FROM FTC
Last year, the FTC filed plans to ban non-compete agreements on a national level. Now, this has been abandoned, leaving in place any state regulations that might be applied.

ANOTHER GRANT TO HELP SOME NON-COMMS
Press Forward has awarded a $750,000 grant to High Plains Public Radio for a regional news network. There are, of course, many more stations hoping for some financial support to replace the CPB money that is drying up. What is heartening is that more organizations are looking at the needs on a local basis and are stepping in to help.

FARM AID AT 40
It was announced that on September 20th, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and John Mellencamp will headline a music festival to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Farm Air concert in 1985.

SPECIAL EVENT IN DC
If you are DC – or close – the special event to be held on October 7th is worth your attention. SBE Chapter 37 will hold the  AntennaFest 2025, a shared antenna and combining systems Day at WETA headquarters from 11 AM to 5:30 PM. Learn more and register now for this free day of five workshops and a concluding Q&A session – total attendance is limited to 75.

WANTED
Mike Vanhooser in Dallas needs a 1-5/8″ 4-port motorized coax switch. Check it out, along with the other items for sale here.
May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!

 

Some recent articles of interest:

                Some recent articles of interest:

                More newsy items here…

                May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!

                 
                 MANUFACTURERS’ NEWS

                The Fall regional conventions continue this week:

                International: IBC in Amsterdam – September 12-15
                Midwest Regional Broadcasters Clinic at Madison, WI – September 15-17
                Georgia Association of Broadcasters’ – Atlanta – September 19, 20
                Midwest Broadcast & Multimedia Technology Conference – Columbus, OH – September 24-26
                WABE Media & Entertainment Technology Conference – Calgary Canada – September 29 – October 1
                Kansas Association of Broadcasters Convention Manhattan KS – October 6th
                HamCon Colorado 2025!  October 23-26, 2025: https://www.hamconcolorado.com
                CCBE/OAB Conferences Toronto Canada – October 27, 28

                = = =

                The Telos Alliance has two new additions: a new Western US Sale Director – Jeff Williams has joined the Telos bunch after ten years with Yellowtec USA, and the promotion of Cam Eicher to the newly created roll of Executive Vice President of Audio Production.

                = = =

                Apple fans were pretty happy to view a major event on Tuesday, featuring, among other things, the latest Air Pods, V3, the iPhone 17 Pro with major improvements from camera to battery, using the new A19 chip, and the Apple Watch 11. With delivery starting on the 19th, Apple is hoping to tempt everyone with one or more of the improvements. (AirPod3 has improved sound and health monitor; the iPhone has extended battery life, 48 MP cameras, and optional video attachments for full resolution motion picture recording.) Pricing is said to be the same as last year’s.

                May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!

                 

                Do You Remember? This week in history:
                Broadcast related items:

                  • 10 years ago (9/8/15) the FCC moved its servers. One of our readers submitted this picture to try to explain why the move may have had some glitches.
                  • 18 years ago (9/14/07) the FCC allowed AM IBOC operation at night (MM Docket 99-325).
                  • 11 years ago (9/13/04) Oprah gave away 300 new cars to the studio audience.
                  • 22 years ago (9/8/03) the RIAA began suing individuals who shared mp3 files. (Remember Napster?)
                  • 50 years ago (9/9/75) “Welcome Back, Kotter“ debuted on ABC. The theme by John Sebastian hit #1.
                  • 51 years ago (9/14/74) when Eric Clapton’s version of Bob Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff” hit #1.
                  • 53 years ago (9/10/72) was the last concert by the Doors. Final song “Light My Fire” – a tribute to Jim Morrison, who died in 1971.
                  • 54 years ago (9/11/71) Donnie Osmond hit #1 with “Go Away, Little Girl.”
                  • 59 years ago (9/12/66) “The Monkees” TV show debuts with Beatles look-alikes.
                  • 61 years ago (9/10/64) contestants were first put in “Jeopardy.”
                  • 67 years ago (9/12/58) Jack Kilby first publicly demonstrated the first IC. *
                  • 69 years ago (9/9/56) Elvis Presley made his first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” 
                  • 70 years ago (9/14/55) Little Richard recorded “Tutti Frutti”  (… oh Rudy)

                  … and 99 years ago (9/9/26) NBC network was organized, based on WJZ and WEAF.

                  And, here are some more newsy-type items: 

                  • 22 years ago (9/8/03) the RIAA began suing individual sharers of copyrighted mp3 files.
                  • 32 years ago (9/13/93) the Israel-Palestine peace accord was signed.
                  • 51 years ago (9/8/74) President Ford pardoned Richard Nixon. 
                  • 60 years ago (9/9/65) Sandy Kofax pitched a “perfect game.”
                  • 72 years ago (9/14/53) Nikita Khruschev was elected leader of the Soviet Union and banging shoe band.
                  • 124 years ago (9/14/1901) President William McKinley died from a gunshot. The new President was **
                  • 128 years ago (9/10/1897) the first drunk driving arrest was made. In what state? ***
                  • 249 years ago (9/9/1776) the United States of America was made the official name of the country. Before that? ****

                  … and 361 years ago (9/8/1664) The Dutch gave up a colony to the British, who named it for a Duke. *****


                  May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!

                   


                  *Around the same time, Robert Noyce also invented the IC. Kirby and Noyce both got patents, but it took a ten year legal battle for Texas Instruments and Fairchild Semiconductor to come to an agreement and reap the rewards (maybe $1 Trillion a year).

                  ** Teddy Roosevelt

                  *** Sort of a trick question: the arrest was made in London, England,
                                     of a taxi driver, George Smith.

                  **** The United Colonies.

                  ***** Yes, we are talking about New York.  The first capital for the US.

                  MIDWEEK BONUS
                  How would you like to have the original light saber from Darth Vader in Star Wars? Take a deep breath: the auction sale price for the prop (no, it didn’t cut through anything) was $3,654,000. Oh wait! It would cut through your bank account!

                  On the other hand, something that does work, although you likely have never seen it, is the undersea network that the Internet runs on. Take a look here to see where it all is located.

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                        TELL US WHAT’S WHAT
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                        We sure do appreciate you spending time with our Newsletter. And even more so when you recommend us to your colleagues and friends.

                        barry

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                        Yes … you might have seen it before, but we should do this: some extra stuff .. some important … some just interesting.

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