| Author |
Message |
    
Tech833
Moderator
Username: Tech833
Post Number: 948
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - 11:51 am: | 
|
Hi guys and gals.
I have been struggling with this for a while, and just this morning, it struck me, hard too.
Far years and years, the hams have looked down on the CBers and belittled the CB crowd as a whole. Just like the class warfare of Carl Marx. He was a commie for those too young to know.
Well, you may not know this, but the hams have been subject to the same kind of belittlement by the professional broadcast engineering community. Sure, many engineers are also hams, but they do not admit it in mixed company, the same way many hams will not admit that they use the CB bands when hanging out with their friends. Broadcast engineers have more technical skill and (until recently) a much more difficult to obtain license. A big joke about hams is in antenna building- For every ham antenna, 'You start with a coat hanger and a broomstick and a roll of tape'. That's one of the oldest jokes around.
Fast forward.
I figured this out. I think I closed the loop. The hams bag on the CBers, the Professional Engineers bag on the hams, the CBers were always on the bottom of the pile. Well, if more Professional Engineers support and help the CBers, then I have started a trend to turn it into a loop instead of a pile. I bag on hams and support the CBers, although I do not consider myself a CBer (except for 1 hour on Sundays).
If enough engineers supported the CB community, we could turn the pile upside down. For now, the loop is just fine. Feel good about yourself, the hams are getting theirs.
Of course, I have to protect my identity (not from you, from fellow B.E.'s) because it would be hell to pay, but if enough others helped too, maybe it would not be so taboo.
Anyway, here's where this is going... Now is the time for you to do your part. Every town has radio and/or TV stations. Contact your local outlets and ask if their engineer would be willing to give you the tour.
If that doesn't get you in, here's plan B- You should also know that EVERY broadcaster is ordered by law to maintain a 'public file'. This is open to the public, that means you. Ask to inspect the public file. While there, look at the technical stuff like the license and patterns (contours). Ask to meet with the engineer to discuss. Make yourself known to your local broadcast engineer and, while it is O.K. to let them know you are a CBer, resist showing them your setup, and most of all, wait until you know them better before you start throwing CB lingo at them. Just stay away from terms like 'gettin out', 'big strapper', 'linear', etc. Just get the grand tour and let the engineer show you how they avoid lightning and how they keep big powered stuff on the air 24/7. Let them show you how the antenna works and how the coax connectors go together. Let them show you how they keep the modulation levels the same and how they improve loudness and coverage without overmodulating. You will be amazed.
I believe that many of the questions answered here by me could be done by most of you after you hang out at a broadcast station a few times. It will be well worth your time, I assure you. And together we will close that loop, and then you can bag on the hams too. You will be hooked up with a professional engineer! It is like your own personal Tech 833. How many hams have THAT? |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 2076
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - 12:43 pm: |
|
Trator ........ HE HE HE HE ! |
Twa77
Intermediate Member
Username: Twa77
Post Number: 130
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - 1:28 pm: |
|
thanks 833. glad your here. i consider what you say fact and not opinion. like always more great and useful info. thanks again
tony |
Xlaxx
Intermediate Member
Username: Xlaxx
Post Number: 277
Registered: 4-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - 2:37 pm: |
|
Good advice 833,...
Gotta like having the best of both worlds though as in my case I enjoy General privileges and hanging out on 11 meters,... nothing wrong with that! Isn't that how most Hams got started anyway via CB! Ha!
XLAXX
|
Sg569
Junior Member
Username: Sg569
Post Number: 30
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - 3:08 pm: |
|
Thats a great idea, 833.I disagree w/ bagging on the hams, they have put thier time and effort into learning, and getting thier ticket.However as someone once put it Knowledge is power.
Thanks for the idea.
Maybe,just maybe, providing there was enough support, cbers like myself, will become hams and or B.E.s
just a thought.
sg569 |
Tech833
Moderator
Username: Tech833
Post Number: 949
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - 3:50 pm: |
|
Bruce, It is spelled -traitor.
Tony, My pleasure. Now, go to your local station and return the favor! |
Twa77
Intermediate Member
Username: Twa77
Post Number: 131
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - 6:12 pm: |
|
will do. we have our local ham club meetings at the radio station. one of the guys in the club works at the radio station. i was never aware of the fact that broadcast radio looked at ham like SOME hams look at CBers. myself
CB , where i got my start there will always be a place in my heart for CB.
Ham , just recently became a ham, but honestly haven't done that much on the air
Broadcast I've always been interested in radio, as a kid i dreamed of being a DJ. I've actually wanted to get an educated tour of a station, but i never knew it was that easy. Now i'm gonna do it. Thanks for the info
see ya
tony |
Radioman123
New member
Username: Radioman123
Post Number: 7
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - 6:51 pm: |
|
Sometimes the ham's looking down at CB'er's are actually "closet" ex CB'er's themselves and won't admitt it. Gotta agree with xlaxx and twa, the best of both worlds is out there and I enjoy them both. |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 2079
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, January 13, 2005 - 12:01 am: |
|
OK .... traitor ( LOL )
Your right if the ARRL had a brain they would be out there tring to keep the hobby going. |
Dogfacedsoldier
Junior Member
Username: Dogfacedsoldier
Post Number: 27
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, January 13, 2005 - 12:54 am: |
|
im both ham and cber i support ham and while ham i support cb lol |
AE336deathcharger (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Thursday, January 13, 2005 - 1:38 am: |
|
i think a lot more CBers could use a lesson on how broadcasters stay loud. a clipped limiter wont help, but a hardware compressor and EQ does wonders and you dont splatter 5 channels to each side |
Racer X (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Thursday, January 13, 2005 - 7:12 am: |
|
I resemble that joke! The 2 meter ground plane in my attic is made from coat hangers and an SO-239. It's been working fine for 4 years. |
Chad
Member
Username: Chad
Post Number: 79
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, January 13, 2005 - 9:04 am: |
|
As a BE I called on a friend ham in the area to figure out complex technical problems especially with interference. This guy was an RF god though and also quite generous.
The best was when we had a pirate close to us causing interference.... I set the local ham club loose on them and the problem was ratified in 1 day. They LOVED hunting that one down 
For the folks wanting a tour/technical orientation. Be patient a BE can be quite busy. At my employer we were busy doing the big radio thing and gobbling up ma and pa stations left and right. Although I don't know if I agree with this, it did keep me busy building studios for quite some time. Often these things have a serious deadline, compounded with coordiantion of contractors, suppliers, and local officials. If I gave a tour it meant I did not get lunch that day.
So.... If you walk in and see sawdust and contractors in the studio areas it's not a good idea to ask for an in-depth tour You may see the engineer, but don't blink, it will just be a blur with a pad of paper, a cig behind one ear, and 5 pencils behind the other because he forgot he already put 4 there.
Sound familiar 833?
Chad |
Tech833
Moderator
Username: Tech833
Post Number: 951
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, January 13, 2005 - 2:27 pm: |
|
Boy, that sure hits home.
These days, I am not as buried as I was before. Until early last year, I was the C.E. of 17 stations, with NO assistance! That was nuts.
As of Jan 1, I am the Chief of only 7 stations, partial owner of 4 more, and contract to a few others. Mostly, I am doing consulting. By the end of this year, I hope to be doing a lot more consulting than hands on work. However, there are 6 stations (two owners) that I want to keep. Also, I may not be a station owner by the end of the year. That will be a relief! With what stations are selling for these days, the thought of 'cashing out' is looking great, and my partners agree. |
Sg569
Member
Username: Sg569
Post Number: 77
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 02, 2005 - 2:11 pm: |
|
Chad and Tech833,
Just wondering what it takes to become a B.E.
What kind of education, where to get that edu.? Etc. etc. etc.
Thanks,
Walter/ sg569 |
Tech833
Moderator
Username: Tech833
Post Number: 993
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, February 03, 2005 - 12:04 am: |
|
Start with basic electronics, then electronics design. A degree in electrical engineering is not required, but is extremely helpful.
Take your FCC GROL and pass, that's it. The GROL exam is a lot like the amateur extra exam, but more technical.
No matter what, hand on experience and being in the right place at the right time to be a 'hero' is your way in. From there, it is up to you. |
Sg569
Member
Username: Sg569
Post Number: 78
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, February 03, 2005 - 6:10 pm: |
|
Thanks tech833,
I guess that it would help to be a ham, first. |
Tech833
Moderator
Username: Tech833
Post Number: 994
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, February 03, 2005 - 9:21 pm: |
|
No. Actually, being a ham is a little bit of a negative. In fact, many professional engineers are hams, but never admit it. It is one of those things like being the CBer at the ham convention. You don't want to be the guy with a ham callsign on your hat at a commercial radio station.
I was a professional engineer for 15 years before I became a ham. The only reason I went for my ham ticket was to repay a bet I lost with a longtime friend who is a ham. My dad is a ham, but even my dad could not get to to become one. I actually don't mind ham radio much, it is the hams themselves that drive me up the wall. |
Chad
Intermediate Member
Username: Chad
Post Number: 132
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Friday, February 04, 2005 - 12:09 pm: |
|
My engineering gig happened with progression. Even as a youngster I was into electronics. I skipped the kiddie fiction books and my mother read me books on tube theory whilst I sat on her lap. The local library was behind the times and did not have much on transistors then, I am fairly young so yes, transistors were common. So at age 5 I could get you around a tube amp and simple electrical theory without the math.
I always tinkered, as a kid I didn't have the preverbal Tonka collection. During the late 70's and early 80's we did not have a lot of money, my dad worked for a company that made and updated trailers, my toys were old trailer lights, brake batteries and nasty wire. And I loved it! Radio shack 200-in-1's, yep I had three!
Soon after I became the towns youngest audiophile and was the first to have a CD player, boy did that take a lot of yard mowing, I could run like a Kenyan! Music became my love and I did everything I could to be involved. Car stereo had just become popular at age 16, and I did not have the money to buy off-shelf stuff so I rebuilt what blown up amps I could find and even later made my own, back then they blew up too easy and I liked TO-3 cases!
We had a couple "wedding DJ's" in town and I got to lay my hands on my first "big stuff" in high school and learned higher power amps and what it took to get sound out to more people, that was my first dabbling in pro audio.
The car stayed home in College, I studied EE and concentrated in applied industrial control and robotics, I wasn't a number cruncher, I wanted to have my hands in it! I walked out with a BS in EE and a minor in Physics. During this time I Became a DJ, not the "wedding DJ" but the guy that got on a plane to go to clubs. During this time I made an investment in a dance club with a very sizeable sound system and did a complete automation system on it, now I was really playing with the "big stuff."
After graduation I worked in my applied field for exactly one week, hated it, and decided to tough out the music industry. I worked for a local high end pro music store for little money as tech support, designer and bench tech. The stuff I did not have the chops for or didn't have time to do was picked up by a tech that serviced all the stores in the area. While there I learned how to mix bands and work on touring rigs. 2 years later I was on the road. I started as a system tech for big dogs, the guy that instructs how to assemble the 3 semis full of gear in a venue, and then make it sound good. If it breaks I fix it FAST. I also worked locally as an engineer to perfect what I thought I already knew. I progressed to a touring monitor engineer and then FOH.
About this time the local fix it guy became CE of a local radio market, and our friendship was strong, he too was a live guy when he was younger and we had many stories to share. He offered me to come to work at his shop as a tech; this gave me more time for the road as long as I got the repairs done. In these few years I learned my "trench work" something that is VERY IMPORTANT.
I continued on the road mostly in the summers, worked for the biggest acts, even the president I also became interested in broadcast from hanging with my mentor at the stations. Because I was his right hand at the shop I was involved in the renovation of the 4 stations in that plant. Corporate OK'd bringing on a heavy audio hitter as a tech/engineer, we were a great combination, we knew each other so well that communication was not an issue, I did audio and automation, he picked up from my end and finished out in RF, we set processing together and we were out the door.
He was then offered a position as a corporate engineer, he traveled extensively, and when he was gone I took care of the shop and became interim CE at the local plant. By this time I was comfortable with broadcast, I had a local RF guru I could call in a pinch, 833, he is a COOL ham, dangerous with a soldering iron but knows his stuff! Repair speed was where it needed to be and I rode that out until last year.
Road life, being one of the only techs in the area, and BE takes it's toll on a marriage. I went through the big D a little over a year ago. Since I had possession of the house, pets, and 50% of everything else I felt it was time to slow down and get a grip on life. A friend of mine was an EE at the local university in the School of Music, he retired and I took his position. Yeah, it ain't glam but its retirement; I do consulting work for a couple engineering firms, local sound companys, and run sound for ONE local band (all good friends). I have met a new wonderful woman (that digs Rock-N-Roll) bought a new house and a couple acres in the country and am rather comfortable, one year down 19 more to go
A BE needs to think fast, get out of bed fast, and keep a cool head. Trench repair is a must have experience, your ability to work under pressure and time constraints is imperative to being successful; every minute a station is down is costing a lot of money. Run a clean ship and you will keep your sanity. If you stress easy, it's not the gig for you! As with any other occupation you need to have a marketable skill and be able to prove your worth. Being in the right place at the right time is quintessential. It is a fun, rewarding job, I'm very happy I was involved.
I will be the first to admit that I lack the finer RF skills, I was hired as an audio hitter, I will always be an audio guy, you want to be the loudest you call me. You got RF problems, you got the wrong guy I want to learn more RF and have been doing so in my spare time. I can get you back on the air, I can maintain and tune transmitters. But I cannot tell you how to space your bays, estimate coverage, design filter and combiner networks, etc.
I'm 32 years old, I honestly cannot say 32 years young. I certainly look much older than 32, and have seen and done more life than I recommend anybody my age attempting. God bless those that will be my age and veterans, I have the utmost of respect and understanding, I did this to myself. My friends are older, I think like I'm older and more tamed for my age. I can guarantee that the things I have done have shaved a few years off the end. Live life and do what makes you happy but don't kill yourself trying.
Best of luck!
Chad
|
Tech833
Moderator
Username: Tech833
Post Number: 996
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Friday, February 04, 2005 - 1:07 pm: |
|
Nice job, Chad! I loved your line "A BE needs to think fast, get out of bed fast, and keep a cool head. " Wow, how true. This is certainly NOT a job for people who stress out. You have to have infinite patience with electronics when you are doing component level repairs. People who have any temper at all will fail. |
Sg569
Member
Username: Sg569
Post Number: 79
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Friday, February 04, 2005 - 6:54 pm: |
|
AS long as no one REALLY rides my tail, I am very slow tempered (most of the time). I would not mind learning the job of a B.E. and I'm fairly used to long days and nights, maybe I should go talk to the local B.E. and see if he would be willing to apprentice me. Never hurts to ask. Besides I got a 50/50 chance, right?
Thanks for the life story Chad, MAybe I can putt some of what y'all told me to good use.
|
Peddler
Intermediate Member
Username: Peddler
Post Number: 139
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, February 06, 2005 - 11:34 am: |
|
I only support myself and have trouble doing that LOL. |
|
