SBE Chapter 17 Meetings and Stories in 2024
SBE Chapter 17 Zoom meeting recordings appear at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzmFge7phAyiY2FCsIiFfPg
Tuesday, April 30, 2024: We will heard from Kenny Miller of SuiteLife Systems at KARE-TV, 8811 Olson Memorial Highway, Golden Valley. Participants received a complete building tour and lunch.
April 13, 2024: Robert G. Peterson, age 64 of Minneapolis, passed away on April 13, 2024. He served as transmitter supervisor for KMSP/WFTC, the culmination of over 30 years of service. Robert was preceded in death by father, Robert. Survived by mother, Lorraine; siblings, Joan (Thomas) Wilhelmy, Tony (Julie), Karen (Mike) Kunz, Lisa; and many nieces, nephews, extended family and friends. Funeral service to be held Monday 4/22/24 at 11AM with visitation one hour prior, at Faith Christian Reformed Church, 1600 Silver Lake Road, New Brighton. Interment at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. Arrangements are through Washburn-McReavy Chapels of Columbia Heights.
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March 27, 2024: Wilfred Arthur "Bill" Meys, 87, of Superior passed away at Diamond Willow in Proctor, MN, with family at his side. Bill was born on March 16, 1937, the youngest son of Arthur and Eva Meys of Superior, WI. After graduating from Cathedral High School in Superior and attending the University of Wisconsin-Superior, he purchased a TV repair business at the age of 19 and throughout his career held service and repair roles at O&L Appliance, Carlton Appliance, Johnson Mertz Appliance and AR TV Service. Bill also received his FCC First Class Radiotelephone License in 1961 to become a radio station engineer, starting at WEBC. Over the next 51 years, Bill held broadcast engineer roles at radio stations including WQMN, WKLK, WAKX, KPIR, WEVE, KXTP, WMFG, KMFG, WHSM, KSCR, and KKIN.
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Wednesday, March 13, 2024, St. Louis Park City Hall: You may have heard about counties in west central Minnesota.
<https://grantcountyherald.com/news/minnesota-welcomes-first-x-band-radar-array-with-ceremony/ trying to fill the gaps left by existing radar networks. We heard from from Eric Jean, meteorologist of Climavision https://climavision.com about how that work is turning out, what can be done with the data, and where those efforts go from here. We learned more about X-Band Radar (8 to 12 GHz). Better informed weather models have many commercial, media, and public safety uses. Climavision is a private company offering higher definition weather images, via paid subscriptions, than the existing NEXRAD government network of 160 radars. In one instance, they reported an 18 minute lead over the National Weather service in reporting destructive weather.
<https://grantcountyherald.com/news/minnesota-welcomes-first-x-band-radar-array-with-ceremony/ trying to fill the gaps left by existing radar networks. We heard from from Eric Jean, meteorologist of Climavision https://climavision.com about how that work is turning out, what can be done with the data, and where those efforts go from here. We learned more about X-Band Radar (8 to 12 GHz). Better informed weather models have many commercial, media, and public safety uses. Climavision is a private company offering higher definition weather images, via paid subscriptions, than the existing NEXRAD government network of 160 radars. In one instance, they reported an 18 minute lead over the National Weather service in reporting destructive weather.
February 8, 2024: Blackmagic Design https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/ makes a wide variety of video production toys, from storage to streaming, cameras to converters...you get the idea. We specifically took a deep-dive into their switcher collection, and lunch was provided, too. The meeting was at Hubbard Broadcasting, 3415 University Avenue, in Saint Paul.
January 26, 2024: We regret to inform you about the passing of Gregory "Greg" Schmitke. He was one of our SBE Chapter 17 members from Moorhead, Minnesota. Greg died of a heart attack.
Despite joining us virtually, he always carried the aura of one of those people you just plain had to meet, and were better off for doing so. Robert Taylor Barker Greg was an amateur radio operator with the call sign KE0LEE. Funeral arrangements at: https://www.korsmofuneralservice.com/obituaries/gregory-greg-schmitke |
January 24, 2024: In person and online, we heard from Chris Morgan and Dana Healey of Tightrope Media. The first 13 minutes of the video was the slide below. The live part started at 13:25 of the 40-minute recorded presentation. Some 38 people were watching online from three SBE chapters. Tightrope is Minnesota-based Cablecast Community Media https://www.cablecast.tv/ and https://www.trms.com/ They talked about the future of public affairs-related content. Specifically, they offer products for captioning and delivery of government meetings. The session was recorded at Town Square Television in Inver Grove Heights. CCM/TMS sponsored the luncheon that day.