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The Star-Spangled Banner

AbrahamJSimpson said:
Oh good lord, the get-off-my-lawn crowd is out. We live in a 24 hour world. The days of signing off are deservedly headed for the dustbin of history where they belong.
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Kid's these days just don't appreciate a good sign off and sign on procedure.

Why, back in my day we had a big crank to start the transmitter in the cold Minnesota mornings by hand. Then the staff announcer would put on a Bison hat and parade in front of the camera reading the 90 second long sign-on script, followed by leading a round of the Pledge of Allegiance. Then after a long day chopping wood, he would come back into the station after Carson and read the sign off script, followed by a warbly-recording of the National Anthem.

Yep! Stations signing off and on; now that's what 'Merica is all about!!
 
frankberry said:


Engineers have found that transmitter failures are most likely to occur when they are first powered up after being off for a period of time.
The thermal cycling ... hot-cold-hot-cold ,,, is the cause of most (non weather-related) transmitter failures.
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Do transmitters ever get shut down anymore or do they just push colorbars over the air while still broadcasting.
 
Great. But there are people who are up and watching. Albeit fewer, naturally. And there are people asleep at 3 pm who don’t care what’s on then. It all works out in this crazy world.
 
Don CT said:
Do transmitters ever get shut down anymore or do they just push colorbars over the air while still broadcasting.
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Stations stopped shutting down their transmitters overnight many years ago. Now with most DTV transmitters being solid state vs. tube power amplifiers, transmitters can be maintained and serviced while running. The individual power amplifiers can be 'hot-swapped' if needed.
 
Don CT said:
Do transmitters ever get shut down anymore or do they just push colorbars over the air while still broadcasting.
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KEYC in Mankato, MN shuts down the transmitter. I chatted with their engineer a few months ago in regards to the weather maps

The MC op punches the weather graphics loop for video, WXK40 for audio, kills the carrier, and ends their shift. Four systems (DirecTV, Dish, Charter, Consolidated) - and anyone they might happen to provide second-generation feeds to - carry that programming throughout the night.

and he even mentioned the reasons why KEYC still shuts down nightly...btw KMNF is the new low powered station due to sign on soon with NBC & CW


Reasons KEYC-TV nightly signoff was preserved for so long

1) No automation: Though there has been file-based playout for 13 years, their master control has not had automation until very recently. The operators were literally doing every switch and roll by hand. So, if they'd just punched network and walked away for the night, there'd be nothing to key in legal IDs, etc. etc. etc.

KMNF will sign on with full automation in place.

2) No transmitter auto-control logic: KEYC-TV has been using a transmitter remote control from the late '80s. Readings had to be written down by hand, and any parameters which were out of tolerance had to be adjusted manually per station protocols... the master control operators basically followed a flowchart. If no one were there, then no readings would have been taken, and no one to see or deal with any issues that might arise (not legal - and thus they never did).

The addition of KMNF has forced the station to finally spend a buck in this area. The new remote going in brings current technology to both KMNF and KEYC. It logs readings automatically, alerts engineering if parameters pass any pre-set thresholds, and can handle as much "if-then" type logic as I'm interested in programming. Therefore, with such a remote properly configured, it would be legal for the transmitters to run unattended.

3) Need for maintenance window: The UCC Mankato plant was kind of a mess when I arrived in 2015. Having that 1-5am signoff as a maintenance window was a big part of what permitted me to keep the "old junk" running, and to make changes/upgrades/etc without impacting on-air operations.

With much of the "old junk" now gone - and with the morning show causing the building to now be staffed (and equipment therefore active) around the clock anyways - the maintenance window has become both less needed, and less useful. I anticipate KEYC and KMNF both ending up with Sunday 1-4am as their only maintenance window going forward, which is more typical of TV stations today.
 
Don't most stations have a centralized Master Control now a-days. Or are the smaller ones still in house.
 
Don CT said:
Don't most stations have a centralized Master Control now a-days. Or are the smaller ones still in house.
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Some groups do centralize Master Control, Traffic, Graphics, Promotions, and other back-office functions, but I wouldn't say 'most'.
 
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