SBE Chapter 17 Meetings and Stories in 2023
SBE Chapter 17 Zoom meeting recordings appear at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzmFge7phAyiY2FCsIiFfPg
December 8, 2023: The annual holiday party for SBE Chapter 17 was held at the Pavek Museum in St. Louis Park, MN. Food was hot dish, potato salad, beans and fruit. All of it provide by SBE Chapter 17 and handled by Program Chairman Taylor Robert Barker. This was an in-person meeting. About twenty attended. They toured the museum after lunch. A fun time was had by all.
November 16, 2023: SBE Chapter 17 met at Town Square Television, 5845 Blaine Avenue East, Inver Grove Heights.
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They heard from from Ricki Lee of Aiir https://aiir.com/, a California-based company specializing in audio playout and planning tools.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GSNtiwrpS0&t=15s |
October 5, 2023, 11 am: We heard from Eddy Vanderkerken of Sourcerer https://www.sourcerer.biz. He is a knowledgeable source for broadcast test equipment. The topic was , "Newest developments in test and measurement tools for the broadcaster, including NextGenTV." We were back to the Pavek Museum. https://www.pavekmuseum.org/ Lunch was provided along with a door prize. Some attended by Zoom.
The SBE 17 attendees that day.
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Eddy Vanderkerken
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September 26, 2023 at 11:30 am: We met at iHeartMedia at 1600 Utica Avenue South. You may recall that LumenServe https://www.lumenserve.com/ was our last intended presenter in the "before Zoom" times, and one of the first guinea pigs we had for our virtual experiments. Now, they're back in-person, and the topic was, "Bringing To Light: The Changes In The Tower Lighting World." Seven from SBE Chapter 17 attended along with two online.
August 3, 2023: The Chapter 17 meeting at Hubbard Broadcasting in St. Paul, MN. Chapter 17 Awards. Thanks to Mike Davison for the photo.
August 3, 2023: (l-r) Joe Conlon received the SBE Chapter 17 Engineer of the Year award from Chapter Program Chairman Robert Taylor Barker. The Robert W. Flanders Engineer of the Year award will be presented to Joe on September 28th.
Bob Lewis
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August 3, 2023: Our meeting speaker that day was Bob Lewis of DeTect, Inc. They have a wide array of products https://detect-inc.com/aircraft-detection-lighting-systems which help protect critical ground assets, specifically the communications business.
To reduce light pollution, the systems turn off tower lights or lights on wind farms when there are no aircraft in the area, then turn them on when planes are within three miles. The systems use Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADSB), used on aircraft, to report position. They also use 9 GHz and 3.03 to 3.30 GHz radar to spot planes. |
November 2023: I wanted to take a moment to thank Steve Smit and his team at AM 1280 for helping our research along with hosting us at the Eagan site in early October. We tested the ADLS MK5-X80 Radar in the parking lot at AM 1280. The radar is now in operation at Gorman Field in Grand Forks, North Dakota, helping students and industry alike, as we learn more.
July 18, 2023: The Next Best thing Media Tour returned to the Twin Cities on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. at the Salem Media Group in Eagan, MN. https://nbttour.com/ The SBE Chapter 17 annual picnic was held there that day too.
Thanks to Steve Smit, Chief Engineer of Salem Media in the Twin Cities, for offering the venue.
David Lankinen, ham call W0ENG, brought a vintage US Army Vietnam era tactual radio and made contacts in the 6-meter ham band. Mark Persons came the furthest, driving 145 miles one way to the event. There was a prize drawing from the Next Best Thing Tour.
Lots of good conversation too.
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July 15, 2023: From Robert Taylor Barker: I'm terribly sorry to report that Ms. McMullen-Boyer passed away on Wednesday at the age of 54, in Saint Cloud. In college, I had the pleasure of being one of many students who encountered her at KVSC-FM. She was the lifeblood of Ampers, and any conversation you had with her automatically made you feel smarter.
Arrangements with the Benson Funeral Home http://www.bensonfuneralhome.com/obituary_display.php?id=2662. Please take a moment to honor her tremendous legacy. Robert Taylor Barker. |
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July 14, 2023: Jim Wychor, age 91, of Worthington, MN, died. Wychor was KWOA AM/FM's co-owner, vice president and general manager for 26 years, according to his biography in the Minnesota Broadcasters Hall of Fame. He served as president and CEO of the Minnesota Broadcasters Association from 1989 to 1997 and served in leadership roles in many other industry groups. Visitation will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday, July 21, with the funeral at 3 p.m., at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1 Shephard Court in Circle Pines.
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/twincities/name/james-wychor-obituary?id=52492494 https://news.yahoo.com/jim-wychor-remembered-great-gobbler-141700558.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma https://www.dglobe.com/news/local/jim-wychor-remembered-for-great-gobbler-gallop-a-life-in-radio-and-his-abiding-love-of-worthington |
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June 14, 2023: Retired Twin Cities Radio Engineer Steve R. Brown passed away. You will remember him from WCCO-FM, which became WLTE, then KMNB Radio.
A memorial service was Monday, June 26, 2023. See a recording of the livestream at: https://livestream.com/accounts/5053468/events/10887558 Steve Brown was the SBE Chapter 17 Engineer of the Year in 2017. 
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From Steve Brown at WHBY in Appleton, Wisconsin: Steve and I had a long friendship, beginning with his regular attendance at the Broadcast Clinic as a member of the Radio Rangers. A very interesting group of guys and I always looked forward to their stories.
In those years we began a running gag between us..... it seems every year the hotel would mix us up and give us each other's room! We Had a lot of laughs over that one.
Then one day we decided to meet for breakfast in Madison. I pulled into the lot at Denny's a few moments before the appointed time. Sure enough, in a few minutes Steve pulled in with his vehicle, a mid 90's, forest green mid-size Ford Ranger pickup truck. He pulled into the spot next to me, in my mid 90's, forest green mid size GMC Sonoma pickup truck. You just can't make this stuff up!
PS: Several weeks ago I met up with a young man who was doing contract work at WCCO. He was so pleased to return to me a piece of property I must have left behind there, "my" SBE membership card. Of course it was not mine but Steve's. Like I said - you cannot make this stuff up. :) RIP Steve - he was one of the good ones.
In those years we began a running gag between us..... it seems every year the hotel would mix us up and give us each other's room! We Had a lot of laughs over that one.
Then one day we decided to meet for breakfast in Madison. I pulled into the lot at Denny's a few moments before the appointed time. Sure enough, in a few minutes Steve pulled in with his vehicle, a mid 90's, forest green mid-size Ford Ranger pickup truck. He pulled into the spot next to me, in my mid 90's, forest green mid size GMC Sonoma pickup truck. You just can't make this stuff up!
PS: Several weeks ago I met up with a young man who was doing contract work at WCCO. He was so pleased to return to me a piece of property I must have left behind there, "my" SBE membership card. Of course it was not mine but Steve's. Like I said - you cannot make this stuff up. :) RIP Steve - he was one of the good ones.
Jill Walters
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June 12, 2023: We heard from Jill Walters, Director of Key Accounts for Digital Broadcast Inc https://www.digitalbcast.com/, about OTT Platform Services. It is all about content delivery to television stations and streaming.
Programming is moving away from traditional televisions and going to smartphones. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDncYhugq7o |
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June 3, 2023: (l-r) National SBE Executive Committee Member Shane Toven CPBE, DRB, CBNE, then Mark Persons CPBE, AMD, CBNT appeared on episode 646 of TWIRT (This Week in Radio and Television) with host Kirk Harnack . They discussed the Emergency Alert System.
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Shane Finch
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May 21, 2023: Shane Finch has passed away. You might remember him from the Next Best Thing Tour. Shane spent time with MusicMaster and ENCO as well as doing air work at WTRS in Savanna, Georgia, and WFMQ Radio in Lebanon, Tennessee. It was just one year ago that he was promoted to the Sales Director position at Broadcasters General Store. See the Radio World story at: https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/people-news/shane-finch-dies
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Tuesday, May 2, 2023: We met virtually and learned about noxious substances leaking into the environment following train accidents. These raises challenges for first responders, and those who get critical details out into the community.
One of our guests was be Deb Radi, Assistant Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response for the Minnesota Department of Health. https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/ep/index.html
One of our guests was be Deb Radi, Assistant Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response for the Minnesota Department of Health. https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/ep/index.html
In the second half of the online meeting, we were joined by Eddie Murphy and Tiffany Ziemer of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. They talked about government agency preparedness for disasters. https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/
Tuesday, March 28, 2023: Thanks to iHeartMedia for the in-person meeting location on Utica Avenue South in Minneapolis. Others joined via Zoom including SBE Chapter 17 Vice Chairman Trevor Schwarze who was in Thailand that day. Thanks to a sneak peek at the upcoming NAB show from Witbe Technologies. Presenters Thibaut Peltier and Lola Khireche gave a rundown on their company's ability to operate devices remotely over the internet and monitor video quality levels.
Tuesday, January 31, 2023: SBE Chapter 17 met in person and virtually to hear from Morgan Alley of SurgeX power protection and power management solutions. https://www.ametekesp.com/surgex He attended last year's AVI Live and will give an overview of the company's electricity management options. Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKGYB2sv2yg
