[BC] Re: Minimum staffing

[Broadcast List USER]

These are two entirely different issues.

You can control the transmitter from anywhere.  It can be some place  
in Colorado doing many of them if you want.

BUT, you must be able to originate programming AND control the EAS  
from the main studio.  You actually DON'T have to be able to control  
the transmitter from there, but you sure as hell better be able to  
call someone and have the transmitter turned off in short order, or  
kill the audio and have the transmitter go off after some short  
delay.  It is kind of odd, looking at it now, how those rules came  
about, but it was by way of minor changes in small steps.

First, the FCC allowed the control point for the transmitter to be  
"other places."  Stations made control points at the GM's, PD's and  
CE's bedrooms.  Then they pretty much let that go, with the ATS  
rules.  Once that happened, pretty much anywhere could be a control  
point, including a cell phone.

STILL, the main studio rule remained in place.  As those rules, and  
EBS became EAS, things became more liberal.

BUT, the main studio doesn't ever have to be used, but it STILL needs  
to be able to go on the air, and you must be able to activate EAS  
from there.  It doesn't matter where the equipment is located, but  
you have to be able to RUN it from the main studio.  You still need  
to be able to control the transmitter too, but it doesn't have to be  
a direct connection, though it is very easy to do these days.

--chip

On Mar 2, 2009, at 3:36 PM, broadcast-request at radiolists.net wrote:

> Message: 24
> From: Mark Humphrey <mark3xy at gmail.com>
>
> On Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 11:44 AM, Mike McCarthy <Towers at mre.com> wrote:
>
>> And yes, the main studio does need to be a control point if for no  
>> other
>> reason it has EAS equipment there and content can originate from  
>> there.
>>
>
> Has this rule changed from 40 years ago, back when AM directionals
> required a first phone on duty?
>
> For example, I remember when WSYR in Syracuse remote-controlled the AM
> transmitter from their manned TV/FM transmitter, allowing the same
> first-phone operator to babysit all three facilities.  AFAIK, there
> was no control point at the main studio, not to mention that it would
> have been illegal to control anything from the studio without a
> licensed operator being present there.  I'm sure there were many other
> stations in those days doing something similar.
>
> Mark