Professional Activities
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I'm News Operations
Supervisor for FOX5, WAGA-TV Atlanta, Georgia.
What's that mean?
Good question, and sometimes I'm not so sure myself! Mainly
I'm responsible for the live
capability of FOX5 News (microwave Electronic News Gathering, or ENG, and
Satellite News Gathering, or SNG). I'm also involved with computer
systems, new technology, and other fun toys.
For a humorous take on promoting
local television news, listen to TV
Sweeps From Hell by voice over artist Charlie
Van Dyke.
One of my ongoing projects is an Intranet for our
newsroom. This "web
portal" comes up as the starting page on all newsroom computers,
providing a consistent interface for all users accessing the Internet.
(The research page on this site is based upon and old version of part of the
Intranet. Yes, it needs to be updated!)
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The RunnerCam Story
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| As
part of FOX5's live coverage of the 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002
Peachtree Road Race we operated a live "RunnerCam."
Well, Mike Daly operated the camera, but I was involved with
planning and execution...
1999:
Reporter Buck Lanford (back row, left) and Photojournalist Mike
Daly (back row, right) ran in the race. When they began, Buck
carried a wireless microphone and Mike carried a camera, the
receiver for the wireless mic, and a microwave transmitter, along
with the necessary batteries (heavy!).
The
microwave antenna pointed as close to straight up as could be
managed, where John Massey (front row, second from right) piloted
Chopper 5 so it's microwave system could relay the RunnerCam
signal back to me at the studio.
(Since
our broadcast ended before Mike and Buck finished the race, they
were able to divest themselves of the RunnerCam gear after running
only a few miles with the extra weight.)
All this was
conceived by Special Projects Executive Producer Bill Sykes (far
right). (Bill moved on to the Do It Yourself
Network after the 2000 Peachtree.)
RunnerCam
was recognized at the Southern Regional Emmy� Awards on
June 10, 2000, when Mike, Buck, John, Bill and I received the Emmy�
for Technical Achievement.
We won again, for
years 2000 and 2001!
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Another Emmy�...
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As part of the FOX5 News
Team I was also awarded a 2001 Emmy� for Outstanding
Achievement: Television News Excellence/Daily New Cast (Markets
1-25).
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| Blimp
Trippin' |
| One morning, several years ago, we did a live remote from the
Blockbuster blimp for our morning show, Good Day Atlanta. Someone
had to operate the portable transmitter, I always wanted to go up
in a blimp, and RHIP ("rank has its privileges"), so I
assigned myself that duty. |
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| This
is a photo of me high over Atlanta, in the blimp, holding the
antenna for the so-called "PoleCam" system we used to go
live from the blimp. (For those who care about tech stuff, it's a
1W 2GHz ENG transmitter with a small, hand-held pole-mounted
directional antenna � the same system we've used for "RunnerCam,"
but with the antenna pointed horizontally.)
(Yes, it was a lot
of fun, and made great television. But I could have done without
the last part of the flight! Our return to the airport was a bit
bumpy, and I'm glad the gondola was equipped with those little
bags. If you're a rollercoaster fan you'd have loved it. I'm not;
I didn't.) |
Most of our microwave ENG is done on the 2 GHz band. Television
stations share a limited number of channels. We coordinate
our operation through so called "Gentlemen's Agreements" and
"Home Channel Plans." In
most of the USA this coordination is done through the Society of Broadcast Engineers. And, since
no one else was willing to do it, I'm the SBE coordinator for frequencies
above 1 GHz for North Georgia. The Atlanta 2
GHz sharing plan is probably typical of what is done in most of the
country.
Of course, the sharing plan must take into account the needs of all
television broadcasters in a given area. In areas with more stations, like
New York, stations may be primary users of at most one channel.
One of my interests is promoting safety for technicians,
photographers, reporters, and engineers operating in and around television
Live Trucks. See my 1997 Radio
World article, On Remotes, Look Up and Live.
I'm also the webmaster for the Atlanta
Section, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.
For more information on my professional background you can check out my
online resume.
How did I get into television?
Well, like many others in TV, I don't know what I want to be when I grow
up. OK, seriously, here's the story. I've been an Amateur "Ham"
Radio Operator since 1971, when I was twelve. Along the way I also
earned an FCC First Class Radiotelephone Operator license, which used to
be required for many jobs in television and radio broadcasting. When I was
in Tucson, for college, I needed a job, and I'd always wanted to work in
television. So I went knocking on TV station doors, saying "I have a
license, can I have a job?" Ralph Turk, then Assistant Chief Engineer
(and now Chief) at KVOA-TV hired me for
weekend master control, and the rest is, as they say, history.
Among the professional organizations
to which I belong:
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