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March 28, 2011
TV Tech Check

Amateur Radio Operators Reception – an NAB Tradition

The annual Amateur Radio Operators Reception, more affectionately known as the HAM Reception, is a free-of-charge event at the 2010 NAB Show which is open to all attendees. This year’s event will be held in Ballroom B of the Las Vegas Hilton on Wednesday, April 13, 2011 from 6 – 8 p.m.

NAB’s HAM Reception is a big draw for both amateur radio operators as well as those who have never “pushed-to-talk” nor learned Morse code, with hundreds lining up outside hours before the doors open. Typically over 600 people pack the ballroom, each hoping that they will be the lucky winner of one of the fabulous (and sometimes very expensive) door prizes (nearly $17,000 worth of prizes in all this year!). Shown in photos from last year’s event (above) are perennial host and hostess (and sponsors) Bob and Sarah Heil (at left); the eager crowd (at center) which shows up 2 hours before the event begins to get a good place in line, and at right, John Marino of NAB reading off someone’s lucky number! This year the HAM Reception is co-sponsored by Heil Sound Ltd., Broadcast Supply Worldwide, and Turner Engineering.

 Everyone attending the HAM Reception is eligible to win a door prize, and is handed a raffle ticket upon entering the ballroom. This year there are over 130 prizes to be handed out which have been generously donated by broadcast equipment manufacturers, engineering consulting firms, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) and others – many of these prizes are listed below along with who they were donated by (in parentheses, including a link to the donor’s Web page). If you are interested in becoming part of this tradition and donating a prize, please contact David Layer at dlayer@nab.org.

Amateur Radio-related Prizes:

  • ICOM IC-V80 sport 2m handheld transceiver (Cavell, Mertz & Associates, Inc.)

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  • 2 rolls TMS Rapid-tite silicone weather sealing tape (Times Microwave Systems)

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  • The ARRL Repeater Directory 2011 (ARRL – 12 of these)

    • Yaesu VX-3R 2m/70cm handheld transceiver (Cavell, Mertz & Associates, Inc.)
  • TYT Model TH-UVF1 2m/70cm dual band handheld FM transceiver w/speaker-microphone, USB cable, software (Hammett & Edison)

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  • 100 ft. TMS LMR-400 low-loss coaxial cable (Times Microwave Systems)

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  • Dataworld HAM contact locator map 34” x 44” (BIA/Kelsey)

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  • MFJ-269 HF/VHF/UHF SWR/antenna analyzer (Harris Broadcast Communications – 2 of these)

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  • ICOM model IC-V80 sport 2m handheld FM transceiver & ICOM “Go” bag (Hammett & Edison – 2 of these)
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  • Yaesu VX-8R 140/430 MHz handheld transceiver (Crown Broadcast)

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  • 3CX1500A7/8877 tube (Eimac – 2 of these)

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  • The ARRL Antenna Book – 21st edition (ARRL – 6 of these)

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  • 4CX5000R tube (Eimac)

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  • The ARRL VHF Digital Handbook 1st edition (ARRL – 10 of these)

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  • Jetstream JTPS28M DC power supply (R&L Electronics)

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  • 100 ft. TMS LMR-240 low-loss coaxial cable (Times Microwave Systems)

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  • The ARRL Handbook – 2011 edition (ARRL – 8 of these)

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  • TMS “Protect” series lightning protector/surge arrestor (LP-BTR50NFF) (Times Microwave Systems)

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  • The ARRL RFI book – 2nd edition (ARRL – 6 of these)

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  • DSI logo bag w/ARRL Handbook, polo shirt (DSI RF Systems)

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  • Yaesu FT-250R/E handheld transceiver (Cavell, Mertz & Associates, Inc.)

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  • Yaesu FT-270R/E VHF FM transceiver (Cavell, Mertz & Associates, Inc.)

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  • TMS “Protect” series DC pass lightning protector (LP-GTRNFF) (Times Microwave Systems)

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  • TX455 3-section telescoping tower (freight not included) (US Tower Corporation)

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  • PR-101 CD-ROM course for public information officers (ARRL – 6 of these)

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  • Yaesu FT-270R/E VHF FM transceiver (ROAM Consulting)

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  • The ARRL Antenna Book – 21st edition (Turner Engineering – 4 of these)

    • Broadcasting-related Prizes:

  • Bird Model 43 Thruline wattmeter, plug-in element (Bird – 2 of these)

  • SBE $40 gift certificate for books or on-line University (SBE)
  • ANT450D single-bay dipole antenna (Telewave)

  • Samson Zoom H4N recorder (The Durst Organization)

  • Fluke T+PRO electrical tester (Telos/Omnia)

  • VAC-PR40 voice screen designed for Heil PR40 and PR30 microphones (Popless Voice Screens)
  • Combination laptop lock w/SBE logo (SBE – 2 of these)

  • VAC-s3.5 voice screen (Popless Voice Screens)
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    Miscellaneous:

  • $50 Honeybaked ham gift certificate (ATSC – 2 of these)

  • Clearstream HDTV antenna (AntennasDirect – 2 of these)

  • Xbox 360 250 GB console w/Kinetic (CEA)

  • HD Car Connect radio (CBS Radio – 10 of these)

  • Mighty Red HD Radio portable receiver (iBiquity Digital Corp. – 2 of these)

  • American Express gift card - $50 (Henry Engineering – 5 of these)

  • 4 GB logo flash drive (IEEE Broadcast Technology Society – 10 of these)

  • HD Table Top radio (CBS Radio – 4 of these)

  • American Express gift card – $50 (Henry Engineering – 2 of these)

  • AON 65 Olympia 130 UHF antenna (Kathrein, Inc., Scala Division – 2 of these)

  • Logo shirt (Broadcast Electronics)

  • Amazon.com MP3 music download $100 gift certificate (Dielectric/SPX)

  • According to Earl: Untold Humorous Stories and Bloopers of Radio and TV (Earl F. Reilly, Jr. – 5 of these)
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    Monday Afternoon at the Broadcast Engineering Conference

    On Monday, April 11, there will be two special sessions for conference attendees. From 1 – 5 p.m. the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society will present a tutorial on 3D TV: Content, Systems and Visual Perception in room S228 of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

    The aim of this tutorial is to offer attendees a broad, but comprehensive overview of the fundamentals as well as the state-of-the-art technologies for 3D-TV broadcasting. The tutorial will cover the issues of how the human visual system perceives stereoscopic and 3D images, and how this knowledge can be exploited for content production, coding and transmission, post production, display and visual comfort. Signal acquisition and display technologies will be reviewed, with explanations of the different approaches adopted by manufacturers. A glimpse of the future will be provided by the consideration of accommodation-consistent, full parallax 3D-TV systems and the latest developments in spatial imaging techniques. Practical implementations of a complete terrestrial broadcast system for mobile devices will be presented. The tutorial will conclude with an interactive Q&A panel.

    Also from 1 – 5:00 p.m. will be the MPEGIF Master Class-Getting Ahead of the Game – How to Stay Relevant in the TV Landscape of Tomorrow in room S220 of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

    For the first time we have seen a decline in the number of people paying for TV. While most operators around the world have seen steady ARPU growth, there is great concern that perhaps the threat of Over the Top Television, enabled by ever increasing bandwidth availability and more efficient encoding, is a real and present danger to the industry as we know it. Even though some investment analysts have shown the dumb pipe business model to return more on investment than the current model, there is a lot to be lost if operators lose that connection with the subscriber. “Cutting the cord”, as it has become known, represents a threat to broadcasters and pay TV operators alike as it erodes both advertising and subscription models equally. In the spirit of “If You Can’t Beat Them then Join Them”, this session will examine the detail and the nuances in bringing an Over The Top experience inside “the wall” to retain that customer connection and even gain additional ARPU growth. This Master Class will examine options that are open to the broadcasters and operators and explore the technical, legal, and commercial constraints that face different markets and present real life experiences from operators where multi-screen services have been deployed.

    Additional information on the NAB Broadcast Engineering Conference and the NAB Show is available online.

     


    The March 28, 2011 Radio TechCheck is also available in an Adobe Acrobat file. Please click here to read the Adobe Acrobat version of Radio TechCheck.

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