NAB wish lists.....................................
tvbroadcast.com
NAB 'Wish' Lists Are Short And Focused
By Douglas I. Sheer and Jessica Webb
(March 19, 1999) Although it's clear that the networks continue to dominate purchases of new equipment each year as the push to digital intensifies, Television Broadcast decided to ask individual station chief engineers around the country what they had on their "wish" lists going to NAB.
Interestingly, the chief engineers we spoke with--from the Hawaiian Islands to Boston, MA--had relatively short lists of "must-see" products as they were getting ready to travel to the NAB Conference in Las Vegas next month. The short lists reflect the reality that regardless of the continued drum beat toward digital compliance, these TV station engineers had already been stocking up--in some cases for up to a decade.
For the most part, station engineers' focus at NAB this year is on specific items rather than a plethora of products. Additionally, since broadcast networks make their deals all year long, NAB is not necessarily as important to them (in terms of actual purchasing) as it once was, according to the chiefs interviewed. Yet, for individual station engineers, NAB is the place where most of the equipment deals are made.
"What we are looking for this year at NAB is robotics for the cameras and non-linear editing systems," said Jeff Jordan, chief engineer at KFSN-TV, ABC Channel 30, in Fresno, CA. "It will be multiple choice as we go around... as I don't have any specific brands in mind at this point.
"Video servers are also on our list, if we can find the time to get to see them all," added Jordan. "Since we are an ABC/Disney station, our transmitter choice has been made [Harris Corp.], and that is okay, not a bad choice. In fact, essentially the deals have been cut already," he added, referring to the many other products chosen at network headquarters in New York.
As for VTR decisions for editing and playback, Jordan said, "We are actually a Sony Betacam SX user here... for field operation, for news [despite ABC's Panasonic DVCPRO selection for digital VTRs] and we're going to use that for our production format, too. For high definition, we will use the Panasonic digital VTRs because there's no real alternative choice within the Sony range."
From Central California to far out in the Pacific Ocean, Henry A. (Hank) Kaul, chief engineer at KIKU-TV Independent Channel 20, in Honolulu, HI, said, "I'm still dreaming of getting a video server for my spot player, as we are still strictly manual, so that's pretty high on my list.
"I'm still trying to educate myself on all phases of DTV," Kaul added. "We have a lower adjacent channel, so I'm going to be looking at--as I was last year--transmitter and combiner technology in order to get a DTV system on that lower adjacent channel. I've already gotten some information from Acrodyne. I'll also look, obviously, at encoders and decoders this year."
Moving from a tropical paradise to the snow-covered regions of the Midwest, John Baich, of WITI-TV in Milwaukee, WI, plans on taking in "the whole DTV realm... I think some of the key devices we will be looking at will be automation systems [and] transmitters. The only thing we have nailed down is our encoder." Since Baich's DTV deadline is 2002, he said his station will start acquiring equipment in the next fiscal year.
Across Lake Michigan (as the crow flies) is Cleveland, OH, and WEWS Engineering Manager Jim Baird, who is up against a May 1 deadline and still has a fairly substantial wish list. "[We'll be looking at] everything from digital microwave routers to digital master control switchers."
Harry Thielmann, chief engineer at KGBT-TV, CBS Channel 4, in the South Texas border town of Harlingen, offered, "At NAB this year we are looking at DVCPRO for our news operation, where we've had 3/4-inch [U-matic] and some aging Betacam--so we've got to make some changes. My thought is to use [Panasonic DVCPRO] 50 MHz equipment, then upconvert to 720p for higher definition, but right now this is still just research. Also, we'd also [ultimately] like to create a tape-less environment, to replace our old Betacart machine with some form of station automation... a cart-less cart system."
Over on the East Coast at WCAU NBC in Philadelphia, PA, Sim Kolliner has his sights on automation and server systems, master control switchers, newsroom computer systems, and MPEG and DTV test equipment. "We are already on the air [with DTV] so we need test equipment now [to monitor] all this overpriced stuff that's still new to everybody," said Kolliner.
After checking out initial price tags of a few test equipment pieces, Kolliner experienced another round of sticker shock. "I was just looking at an MPEG test piece from Tektronix [and] it's $50,000! And I'm going, yeah, you're kidding!... It's just expensive at first."
Further down the coastline in Norfolk, VA, Robert Boone, chief engineer at WHRO-TV PBS Channel 15, said, "We are definitely concerned about the transition to digital transmission, so we're looking at encoders and all the products that can get a network signal on the air.
"Since we're a PBS affiliated station," he continued, "we already have access to occasional HD signals that we might be able to turn around, reasonably, and get something up in low power."
As far as getting ready to go fully digital, Boone stated, "We are in the process of building a [digitally capable] tower and we are considering which digital transmitter to use." In terms of other products, Boone said that WHRO was pretty well-off, having made many of the other decisions, such as for servers, in the past few years.
"We are about at the 10-year point with our Ikegami cameras and now can consider a purchase, since not-for-profit grant money requires us to depreciate equipment over at least 10 years," Boone added. "So, we'll be looking at switchable Ikegami cameras that can produce both 16:9 and 4:3 pictures." As for full HDTV, "We're using D-3 machines right now and the next step in our progression would be to move to Panasonic D-5s," he said, indicating a stop at the Panasonic booth was definitely on his tour at NAB.
"With prices coming down, we may be looking at an all-server environment. And with much of our [PBS] network programming originating on film--and supplied to us already compressed [MPEG], and our digital distribution system in place, we're looking beyond tape machines to servers for archiving."
Back up the coast to Boston, WBZ's Chief Engineer Bob Hess has successfully narrowed his wish list one area: the studio. "I am going to be looking at high definition television studio equipment. Other than that, I'm really not looking for anything else." Being a May 1 station, his major purchases, like a transmitter and related equipment have already been made.
Down in the Deep South, Brad Strommen of WAFF in Huntsville, AL, will be eyeing studio "glue" products like A/D and D/A converters and scan converters. Strommen said he realizes the importance of this year's NAB. "Last year was supposed to be the big NAB, but I think the next four years will be just as important or more so."
Amid the bayous and jazz music of New Orleans, WDSU chief Chet Guillot is on a mission for master control switchers, HD tape recorders, HD cameras, and DNG trucks. That, and perhaps everything else one can fit in a station (minus the kitchen sink).
"We're just going to see what's the latest in the DTV world," he said.
Last but not least, in the Sunshine State, Steve Flanagan will be on the look-out for the 'afterthoughts' for his station, WPLG in Miami. "The most important thing that we are looking for is... all of the ancillary pieces of equipment that we need to hook all of this stuff together," he said. "The big purchases have been made: the encoders, the transmitters, the antennas, [but] there are several intermediate pieces in between that still need to be ironed out."
Across the United States, station engineers are hoping to find missing pieces of the DTV puzzle when they descend upon Sin City next month. If all goes as planned, they'll get what they "wish" for.
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