[SBE] The future of Broadcasting.

[Dan Slentz]

Very well said, Carl!  (




________________________________
From: Carl Sundberg <carlesundberg at yahoo.com>
To: sbe member discussion mail list <sbe at sbe.org>
Sent: Thu, March 18, 2010 1:22:57 PM
Subject: Re: [SBE] The future of Broadcasting.


I fully understand the significance of the E in SBE and realize why there would be a concern if we deviate from the engineering side of this discussion. Let's never forget that even though deForrest, Armstrong,  Zworykin, Farnsworth and so many others were engineers, their work had one primary purpose and that was to develop a mass communication system. For years and years, the older guys in this group remember when the FCC was mostly a non-political entity that was there to protect and gaurantee that the inventions of those engineers worked and worked well to serve the mass communication needs of the public. I say "mostly" as it relates to "non-political" because we all know what happened to Armstrong's "Yankee" network and why. 

I'm guessing that I am not alone when I say that I became an engineer because I wanted to support the efforts of the poeple in broadcasting that were in the programming end of the business and to help my employer serve the community it was licensed to serve. In my youth, the FCC was the great protector of the spectrum. Commissioners from the 30's and 40's  are likely hitting high RPM's in their graves every time a spectrum auction comes up. 

I have no problem with changes, what I have a HUGE probelm with is the concept of having anyone OWN, forever plus a day, a nationwide frequency. There is no way for someone in city x to have any idea of what's really best for city y or for that matter for the owner in city x to even care about city y. This corporate nationalization of spectrum is just wrong. I would like our group to lobby for a return to the kind of FCC specturm management where a license is granted to the party willing to offer the most and best service to each individual community where a facility is built. If we leave it to Corporate America, it will do what it always does and cherry pick who gets what. The big cities will be up and running first and small market America will still be without signals, perhaps forever.

The SBE does serve in one way that the old FCC did. We certify engineers like they use to and I think we are doing a better job than they did. We do have both their ear and the ear of many in the legislature. As engineers, I think its our responsibility to speak up. If you are going to take this spectrum, there should be conditions like, you can't turn on any major city until all the rural area's are up and running. With conditions like that, I think you will see everything change.

Let's not be fooled again. We lost channel 52 and up. Someone needs to make a map showing all the small markets where these channels are not being used and report that to the Legislature.  I don't think you will find even one very rural market where all these channels are being used as they were intended. Tell the people with all those frequencies to use them everywhere or lose them everywhere and we'll get lots of spectrum back.


Carl Sundberg
3318 Coraly Ave.
Eugene, OR 97402-6544

Cell: 541 520-2867
Landline: 541 461-2324
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