[SBE] Sat Truck Operator Licensing

[Matt Antalek]

As a sat truck engineer, I'm not sure about the legality issue.  I've
always been told that when you're on the bird, you stay in the truck,
but I'm not sure there's a law mandating this.  In the real world,
when you're uplinking a backhaul or some all day event, no sat truck
op that I've seen stays in front of the "radiate switch" at all times.
 Although, the good ones are almost always within monitoring distance
(perhaps a few feet outside the door with the door open).

Just remember, the further away from the controls you are when
something goes wrong, the longer the response time will be to switch
to a backup path and get back on the air, etc.

Matt Antalek
VideoLink



On 11/9/09, Urban, Brian L <burban at kut.org> wrote:

> When I operated a sat truck (C-Band) we were not allowed to go on or off the

> bird without being on the phone with the sat operator TOC.  That was

> universal with all sat operators.  Turning the transmitter on/off by camera

> remote would be problematic without coordinating with the TOC.  Can you

> imagine the interference chaos that would ensue if trucks were going on/off

> the bird at will?  How would you bill for the time?   If the transmitter is

> radiating, the operator should be in the vicinity of the truck.  In  the

> scenario below, if the operator/photographer had a cell phone the TOC could

> call, that should be sufficient.

>

> --

> Brian Urban

> Chief Operator

> KUT Radio

> The University of Texas at Austin

> TEL 512-471-1085

>

>

> On 11/6/09 7:11 PM, "Gibson Prichard" <gibson at prichard.tv> wrote:

>

> What is the consensus of the legality of a two-person crew (reporter &

> satellite-trained photographer) being sent to operate a sat truck for

> ENG News gathering? Once the shot is up and on the bird, the operator

> might step away from the controls to operate the camera while the

> reporter is on-air. It would be possible to tie the uplink's transmit

> enable to a remote line that the photographer could toggle off if need

> be in an emergency. It could be tied to H sync or valid SDI clock data

> from the camera, so turning the camera off would turn the satellite

> transmitter into standby, thus essentially meeting the "designated

> remote control point" requirement.

> I'm sure there are many times when the scenario above takes place, and

> probably most ENG trucks are without a remote turn-off ability. Does

> anyone know if a station has ever been cited for not having an operator

> in front of the "radiate" switch at all times?

>

> Gibson Prichard

> Nashville

>

>

>



-- 
-Matt