Minutes of the Technical Advisory Committee on Broadcasting (B-TAC)
FINAL
MINUTES OF THE THIRD
MEETING OF 2002, HELD ON
OCTOBER 7, 2002
ATTENDEES OF THE
THIRD MEETING OF 2002
TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON BROADCASTING
(B-TAC)
Present were:
V. MimisDirector
(Chairperson)Broadcast Planning and Technical Policy
A. LamBroadcast Standards and Procedures
(Secretary)
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
S. LamarreDelivery Technology
F. GauthierDelivery Technology
Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission
A. LubienietzkyBroadcast Engineering Analysis
G. BerginBroadcast Engineering Analysis
Broadcastors and Consultants
D. AllenD.E.M. Allen & Associates Ltd
G. HenkeD.E.M. Allen & Associates Ltd.
P. LabarrePierre Labarre & Associates Ltd
MacaulayD.D. H. Macaulay Engineering
S. EdwardsRogers Broadcasting Ltd.
W. StaceyWayne A. Stacey, & Associates
B. DormerConsultant
J. FeltmateConsultant
M. BeausejourY.R.H.
P. CahnConsultant
V. DesmaraisConsultant
J. MoltnerConsultant
D. WoodConsultant
E. BogdanowiczImagineering Ltd.
T. YoungConsultant
Industry Canada
F. BouchardBroadcast Regulation
J. DadourianBroadcast Standards and Procedures
D. MacMillanBroadcast Planning and New Technology
A. DalviBroadcast Standards and Procedures
P. VaccaniBroadcast Application Engineering
J. DexterBroadcast Application Engineering
K. MehtaBroadcast Application Engineering
M. DumasBroadcast Application Engineering
A LeducBroadcast Automated Systems
B. FarmerBroadcast Automated Systems
R. CepellaOperational Policies and Procedures
J.C. BrienEMC
J-M BoilardIndustrial Relation
A. LeungEngineering, Ontario Region
S. FaucherEngineering, Quebec Region
NAVCANADA
NAVCANADA
S. VowlesSpectrum Management
J.P. HuotSpectrum Management
S. LangSpectrum Management
- CHAIRMAN=S OPENING REMARKS
Mr. Mimis opened the meeting by welcoming thMr. Mimis opened the meeting by welcoming the members to this third meeting of 2002. He said that there had been some development in DTV since the last meeting, including the first application for a DTV station, etc.
- APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Mr. Stacey proposed adding Auxiliary TransmitMr. Stacey proposed adding ‘Auxiliary Transmitters for authorization= as item 7.2 for discussion. The draft agenda was approved by the members as presented.
- DRAFT MINUTES OF THE JUNE MEETING OF 2002
The following changes were made to the draft minutes as presented.
Section 5.21st para:Mr. Dadourian compared the ...... that a change from -40db to - 20db would be acceptable for most receivers.=
was changed to:
Mr. Dadourian compared the ...... that a change from -20db to -40db would be acceptable for most receivers.=
- MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
AM Switching Time
Mr. Stacey informed the members that the FCC was prepared to accept real time switching but with some conditions. Mr. Mehta added that the FCC=s conditions, including treating the change as experimental and subject to operational interference complaints. Another condition was that Canada would grant the similar privileges to U.S. stations should any decide to do the same. Mr.Stacey commented that under the Canada/U.S. AM Agreement, Canada could proceed with the change without U.S. agreement, however, for the sake of good cooperation, he was prepared to follow the current arrangement to further assess the situation.
IBOC Implementation
Mr. Mimis indicated that the U.S. administration did not raise the subject at the last PCC2 meeting this summer. However, he believed that the U.S. was aware of Canada=s concerns on IBOC implementation. Mr. Mimis further suggested that Canada should formulate its own position on the subject should it return for discussion in the future. Mr. Dadourian added that the FCC had yet to adopt the IBOC standard and the Department was monitoring the situation very closely.
Mr. MacMillan took the occasion to report on the September NRSC meeting in Seattle. He said that the NRSC agreed to form a working group with the goal of drafting and adopting voluntary standards for FM and AM IBOC transmission. He suggested that the NRSC working group would try to formally adopt the FM IBOC standard by January 2003 and the AM IBOC standard by June 2003 before proposing them to the FCC. Mr.MacMillan indicated that the Department would be following the process closely. Mr.Mimis added that the FM IBOC system enjoyed a clearer international recognition as it had been endorsed by the ITUR. However, the AM IBOC remained a concern with many with its potential of interference into existing AM service.
- STATUS REPORT
5.1Digital TV/DRB
On the subject of relocating the 700 MHz band, Mr. Dadourian said that the intention was to continue allocating Channel 60-69 for DTV channels during the transition period and after which, these channels would be used by mobile services for public safety and commercial applications. Ms. Lamarre interjected that these channels should only be used for other services after Broadcasting Service was fully satisfied as outlined in the DTV plan. Mr. Dadourian suggested that the Department was confident this would be the case as the tests in Manotick had confirmed the validity of the planning procedures. On the Public Safety Service, Mr. Dadourian said that after the 911 incident, priorities had changed and spectrum for Public Safety channels would be made available as soon as possible. He indicated that the most likely spectrum would be channel 63 and 68 and suggested that broadcasters should take this into consideration when making applications. Mr.Stacey inquired if the turnover of channels 60-69 from Broadcasting to other Services had been through the usual public process, and if not, he suggested that the Department was pre-empting the result by imposing restrictions on these channels. This same opinion was seconded by Mr.Edwards. In response, Mr.Dadourian said that the Department had issued a policy statement outlining its intentions for the use of this band. He indicated that the current restrictive measure would be temporary and that a final policy decision would be made after considering all comments on the proposal and the need for spectrum management. Mr. Mimis added that the need to negotiate with the FCC had further complicated the issue.
Mr. Labarre remarked that NTSC service would be phased out after the transition period and he suggested that it would be more logical that channel 60-69 be assigned to NTSC analog channels during the transition. .
There was a brief discussion on the manner in which the Department handled the issue and Mr.Allen requested that future notice of policy intentions should be made available to all BTAC members and broadcast consultants at large.
Mr. Dadourian announced that the Department had received its first DTV application in Toronto and pointed out that in major centres, the DTV assignment would be interference-limited rather than noise-limited and therefore applicants should stay with the maximum parameters for proper coverage and to avoid possible interference.
Mr. Bergin took the occasion to report on recent activities in the CRTC re. DTV. He said that the Commission had issued two Notices re. DTV:- a final policy for over the air transmission = and a policy proposal on distribution. With regard to the over the air = service, the new policy would be market driven whereas the distribution proposal was based on current distribution rules. Mr. Bergin also indicated that the Commission was preparing a new DTV application form for a fast-track application process.
Mr. Allen raised a concern that some requests from the Commission, e.g. additional technical information, etc. at short notice may in fact slow down the process.
Mr. Bergin acknowledged that minor problems may arise initially but he believed that in time, the new process would be more efficient in processing applications.
5.2BPR UPDATES
Mr. Bouchard reported that BPR-3 Provisional had been updated and was now available for use. He also indicated that BPR-5 had been posted on the Department=s experimental site = for information and review. He said that comments were received from the CBC recently (TAC0210 and TAC0211).
Mr. Allen suggested that all BPR changes should be clearly highlighted and dated for easy reference.
Mr. Gauthier tabled documents TAC-02-10 and TAC-02-11. The former provided some comments and suggestions for BPR-V modification while the latter proposed a Service Identifier System for DRB Service. Mr. Stacey remarked that the subject had been discussed previously and Mr. Mimis suggested that the subject would best be addressed by a small subcommittee (subcom 15).
5.3AM MEASUREMENT REPORT
Mr. Lam tabled document TAC-02-09 which presented the measurement results of two AM transmitter sites, i.e. CHWO/CJBC (Hornby) and CKSL (London). He said that based on the measurement results, the previously proposed AM table had to be revised to reflect the required distances. Mr. Stacey commented that the assumption of equal maximum power radiating from each tower of an array system was overly conservative and he suggested that the safety distances should be based on the electrical current distribution of each tower. He also suggested that the revised AM table was too conservative. Mr.Mimis remarked that perhaps additional table(s) may prove appropriate for array antenna systems, however, due to a lack of sufficient data, it would be prudent to err on the side of safety. Mr.Dadourian added that the AM table was intended as a guide, broadcasters always had the option to conduct measurement to establish the safe distances. He requested that comments on the revised table to be forwarded to the Department as soon as possible.
5.4Safety Code 6 Issues - Subcommittee 13 Updates
Mr. Lam reported that the subcommittee met over the summer and Mr. Bedard (CBC) was introduced to the Regional Engineers for future dealings between the Department and the CBC re. Safety Code 6 matters. He also reported that the subcommittee discussed and agreed to a set of procedures for addressing Safe-Code-6 related problems at transmitter sites. He said that the subcommittee had now completed its task and sought permission to disband the subcommittee to which the members agreed. On a related matter, Mr. Allen said that the Department had recently returned applications for sites which were deemed to have reached the maximum Safety-Code-6 levels and he would like to have the list of such sites made available to the members. Mr.Vaccani replied that a number of such sites existed across Canada and he suggested that members should contact the Regional Engineers for detailed information. Ms.Lamarre suggested that applications should not be returned without giving the applicant an opportunity to address the Safety-Code-6 concern. Mr. Stacey felt that broadcasters seemed to be unfairly targeted by the Department for Safety-Code-6 issues while other telecommunication Services, e.g. low-power devices and PCS systems, etc. were exempt from the same scrutiny. Mr.Vaccani assured the members that the Department treated all Services equally in this regard. After a brief discussion, Mr. Vaccani agreed to review the situation with regard to the returned applications and would inform the members of the Department=s decision as soon as possible.
5.5CRTC
Mr. Bergin said that most of the CRTC=s recent activities were reported earlier under item5.1. The only addition would be to remind consultant members to review the Exemption Notices issued by the Commission from time to time.
5.5GBAS/FM Compatibility Issues
Mr. Vowles tabled document TAC-02-12 which outlined the functionalities, the frequency of operation and the technical parameters of the GBAS system. He said that NavCanada had conducted some tests and concluded that the GBAS system would offer enhanced safety in aviation with little impact on FM interference. He suggested that if adopted, the GBAS system would eventually replace the ILS system.
Mr. Mimis added that this topic would probably be on the agenda of the WRC03 (World Radio Conference) and Canada would need to have its views established. Therefore, he suggested that members should make their opinions on the GBAS system known to the Department for inclusion into the final Canadian proposal.
With regard to the VDL mode-4 system, Mr. Brien indicated that the VDL mode system was still under review by International Committees.
6Informatics
Mr. Leduc informed the members that the contour curves had been posted at the Department=s Website. He also indicated that the Department had decided to adopt the new F (50,50) family of curves for use in the future and these should also be available at the same Website in a few weeks= time. When Mr. Allen inquired about the availability of the NAV/COM software, Mr.Leduc said that some unexpected legal matters arose at the last minutes for concluding a formal licensing agreement with NavCanada, however, a temporary agreement would be signed in the next few days to allow the distribution of the software to the members.
- OTHER BUSINESS
7.1Additional Documentation for License Application
Mr.Allen raised the matter that the Commission often requested additional technical submissions after an application had been filed. He was concerned that such a practice would delay the process time of an application. Mr. Bergin replied that the reason for the additional information was to allow the Commission to examine spectrum efficiency issues, which otherwise would have to be asked at the initial hearing to decide if further hearings were required. The requested additional information may in fact shorten the application process time. Mr.Lubienietzky added that such additional information may also provide the Commission with more flexibility in granting licenses to as many applicants as possible.
7.2Auxiliary Transmitters
Mr. Stacey tabled document TAC-02-13 which proposed some modifications to BPR-1 with regard to the use of auxiliary transmitters in cases of main transmitter failures. He also related the issue to current Gazetting of technical parameters in broadcasting applications. He suggested that changing some parameters, e.g. average power to peak power, etc. would convey more information about the operation. He indicated that the CAB and the CRTC would likely discuss this issue in the near future.
Mr. Henke took the occasion to remind members that the issue of AM transmitting patterns being affected by nearby PCS towers and exempt installations remained unresolved. Mr.Stacey suggested that the Department should review its exemption policy as well as its procedures for licensing PCS systems. Mr. Lubienietzky indicated that the Commission was also planning to review the criteria and conditions for granting exemption.
8DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The date of the next meeting will be Tuesday, February 25, 2003.