Category: Nearby Chapters

Chapter 91 (Lansing/Mid-Michigan) November Chapter Meeting

Date: Thursday, November 13, 7:30 PM

Location: WKAR Stations, Room 204 Communication Arts and Sciences Building, Michigan State University Campus, East Lansing (Parking is free in the ramp after 6 PM)

Topic:  Closed caption verification in a file based video workflow
For viewers at home checking closed captioning on a TV show is as simple as pressing a button on a remote control to display the captioned text on screen.  However, TV broadcast professionals who have to manage a file based digital video delivery workflow have a very limited toolset to verify that a video file has proper TV closed captioning data.  This session covers a variety of new options to be able to check video files for closed captioning with software that does not rely on hardware and expensive professional TV monitors to decode the caption data.  Once the caption data is checked and verified it can be extracted and repurposed for a variety of delivery formats including internet videos to meet 508 compliance.

Speaker: Giovanni Galvez – Captioning Expert, Telestream

In his 7th year as the technical developer for CPC, now part of Telestream, Giovanni Galvez has helped networks such as NBC Universal, Fox, Turner, and AMC migrate to a file-based workflow for HD closed captioning. He has given seminars and presentations at Apple headquarters in Reston, VA, Rochester Institute of Technology, FCC, National Association for the Deaf and the NAB conference.  During these sessions he discussed new and essential file-based alternatives for HD closed captioning that integrate with non-linear editing systems, broadcast servers, and internet video delivery platforms.  In addition to closed captioning for TV, he has also helped many government agencies such as the DOJ, FDA and Social Security administration add closed captioning to web videos.  In the first quarter of 2011, he helped develop the first software to convert TV closed captioning CEA-608 to SMPTE TTML file format for the web.

Updated with funeral arrangements below.

It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our friend, our colleague, our family – Larry Allen Estlack. Larry passed away peacefully after a courageous battle with cancer early this morning, Monday, December 16. He was 64.

Larry started at the Michigan Association of Broadcasters in 2002 and during his time here, he oversaw all technical programs including the Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program for radio and TV stations and the MAB Engineering Hotline where many Michigan stations, and his engineering colleagues, counted on Larry for his engineering expertise to help them through all sorts of technical issues.

Larry was appointed by the FCC as the chairman of the Emergency Alert System in Michigan, a position he held for 21 years, and served as Chairman of the South Central EAS area since 1977. Larry was also appointed by the Governor of Michigan to the Michigan Citizen-Community Emergency Response Coordinating Council (MCCERC) and served on the Broadcast Warning Working Group (BWWG) nationally. He was always passionate about building better alliances between the Emergency Management community and broadcasters to improve public warning.

From 2008 to 2011 Larry worked tirelessly on five federal NOAA grants in coordination with Michigan State Police and Department of Natural Resources, to bring emergency alert sirens to five remote Northern Michigan state parks in an effort to keep all Michigan citizens safe, even while on vacation. Those efforts proved vital as the sirens saved 83 people during a severe storm at Muskallonge Lake State Park in September 2010.

In addition to his time at MAB, Larry had been involved in both radio and television engineering for more than 30 years. He received the Michigan Association of Broadcasters’ first Carl E. Lee Engineering Excellence Award, and was inducted into the Michigan Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2008. His passion for broadcast engineering went far beyond the station walls as he spent many hours training and educating future broadcast engineers. In addition, Larry was an active member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers Chapter 91, was certified as a Professional Broadcast Engineer and served as a frequency coordinator for much of the State.

Larry was a very genuine and passionate person, always caring, always giving to others before himself. He will be greatly missed by his family, fans, friends, and his MAB family. Services for Larry will be Saturday, Jan. 4th, 2014 at Estes-Leadley in downtown Lansing. Visitation will be 2-4pm, service to follow at 4pm. Wake details to be announced at service. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations to Larry’s scholarship fund.

Finally, a few words from Larry himself recorded in December 2012 as part of the MAB holiday greeting: http://youtu.be/_ihhTlPjLxw

Our friends at Chapter 91 in Lansing have let us know their plans for fall as of now.

October 20, 2010 location tba, program tba.

November 17, 2010
WKAR Stations,
Room 204 Communication Arts & Sciences Bldg,
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI

Madison Batt from KPFF will make a presentation regarding towers.

December 15, 2010
**Christmas Dinner**
Coral Gables
2838 East Grand River Avenue
East Lansing, MI

SBE Chapter 91
September 15, 2010
1930 ET

Room 204
WKAR Stations
Communication Arts and Sciences Building
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824

//// Program ////

Description:

There have been several key developments in the backup power industry that will enabled Harris Corporation to removed their battery UPS systems and installed our compressed air UPS systems to provide backup power for their telecommunications equipment. Please see the attached case study for details.

PnuPower manufacture AC and DC UPS systems that do not rely on batteries and use compressed air for energy storage. These systems are extremely reliable and often cheaper than their battery equivalent with a minimal maintenance requirement. They can be installed outside and are designed to operate in extreme temperatures.

Presentation:

Andrew Goodwin BEng(Hons)CEng MIET WhSch is a Chartered (Professional) Engineer and obtained his Degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from UMIST in Manchester. He has extensive experience in the development and manufacture of high speed rotating machines. He led the Customer Service department for one of the worlds leading flywheel energy storage companies for many years and has experience of numerous types of manufacturing including Nuclear and Chemical plants. Andrew is a Whitworth Scholar and a member of the IET.