[SBE] Sat Truck Operator Licensing
Matt Antalek
matt.antalek at gmail.com
Sun Nov 15 16:44:40 EST 2009
I have one question of clarification from Gibson's original message.
I don't work in local news, so I'm not sure how most stations do it
now. Do stations with satellite trucks typically send out 3 people
for a satellite live shot (truck engineer, camera, reporter?)
There must be some that already send out just an operator/photog and a
reporter, right? I'm a big DMA (Philly) and I see the microwave truck
guy who will set up a camera on the sticks and frame the shot for the
reporter and then go back into the truck for the live hit all the
time.
On 11/15/09, Matt Antalek <matt.antalek at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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
>
--
-Matt
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