Indian Wells Valley TV Booster, Inc.
Minutes of February 14, 2005 board meeting

A. Opening
1. Call to order
The meeting was called to order by President Cole at 5:07 PM.
2. Attendance
Board members present: Blazek, Cole, Greene, Longo, Manos, Middlemiss, Schneider
Board members absent: Ash
Visitor(s): Roy Mayhugh
3. Approval of minutes
The minutes of the January meeting were noted as needing amendment to include information about the license sale and to change Member Manos to being shown as absent.   The minutes are to be corrected and reposted to the Web site.
4. Treasurer's report
Treasurer Blazek presented a report for the preceding month.   No major financial actions occurred other than depositing the check received as earnest money for sale of the TV licenses.   There is currently about $29,000 in the bank.

Member Schneider reiterated the offer of mutual auditing of organization's books.   Treasurer Blazek wishes to wait until after mid-April to perform the audit due to personal tax season.

No progress was reported on pricing of the Laurel Mt. inventory items.
5. Correspondence
Treasurer Blazek related one comment received from a donor expressing disappointment in not being able to receive KKJZ.   This is a KUOR problem over which TV Booster has no control.

Annual greetings were received from the Kern and San Bernadino County assessors.
B. Committee reports
1. Standing committees
b. Operations
Mr. Mayhugh reports having successfully corrected the power supply problem with the B Mountain channel 14 translator with a temporary repair.   A bad power supply filter capacitor was causing the signal degradation.

There was a meeting of the transition committee January 24 at which time agreement was reached regarding the TV channel arrangement to use when activating the new translators.   

   Chan.  Station
     33   KCBS-DT
     35   KNBC-DT
     39   KTLA-DT
     41   KABC
     45   KCAL
     47   KTTV
     49   KCOP
     51   KCET
     53   KCBS
     55   KNBC
     57   KTLA

This plan allows having three DTV channels when the new translators are received and licenses for channels 33, 35, and 39 are granted by the FCC.   Channels 41-51 would be operated as analog TV until there are sufficient funds to switch to DTV.   Channels 53 and 55 would continue operating until the FCC orders termination of analog TV operations or the FCC terminates TVB's licenses for those channels due to reallocation of this part of the spectrum to other services.   Channels 59-67 will be removed from service upon completion of the sale of their licenses.

It was reported that KMZT has yet to begin digital FM radio transmission due to some technical problems between their studios and transmitter.

President Cole and Mr. Mayhugh reported having found a location on Laurel Mountain where KMZT can be received quite well with a simple receiver.   Further work will be done to locate a site at which to install an antenna to determine if non-heroic effort will get translated KMZT back on the air.
c. Publicity
A news release was cooperatively produced by several members of the board and published by the Daily Independent, January 14, and the News-Review, January 5.
2. Ad hoc committees
b. City council liaison
Member Longo reported that no meetings of the Ridgecrest City Council franchise committee have been held "due to a lack of funding."   Thus, no action has been taken on the renewal of Mediacom's cable franchise.
C. Old business
1. DTV transition
It was reported that the translators are believed to have left Italy and are on their way to the U.S.   The mid-January date has long passed and the end of January estimated delivery date was missed also.   Delivery is expected Real Soon Now.
2. License sale
The official public notices of the proposed sale were published in the Daily Independent, January 13, 14, 20, and 21, 2005 as required by law.

It was reported that the initial 30-day public comment period has passed for the license sale without any adverse reaction.   The FCC intends to grant the transfer application within a day or two at which time a second 30-day period begins during which objections to the grant can be raised.
D. New business
1. NTA membership renewal
It was moved by member Manos and seconded by Vice-president Middlemiss that the TVB membership in the National Translator Association be renewed for another year.   This was approved by unanamous voice vote 7-0-0.
E. Discussion items
1. DTV infrastructure
Member Longo asked about whether Valley residents' existing antennas would suffice for DTV reception.   It was speculated that existing UHF antennas will work quite well enough given that the DTV signals will be much stronger than the current analog signals and the lower signal threshold needed for reception of DTV signals.

The idea was put forth of having a "seminar" for local businesses that may be interested in providing products and services for the coming over-the-air DTV.   There was a consenus that this was a good idea, but nobody was given the direction or authority to proceed with the idea.
2. Channel 41 translator replacement
Vice-president Middlemiss and Mr. Mayhugh suggested that the existing channel 41 translator should be replaced by one of the same make and model as the new translators yet to be received.   There was again a consenus that this would be a good idea for some time in the future, but not presently.   There are enough other things to be done to keep everyone occupied for quite some time and there aren't sufficient funds to order yet another unit.
F. Closure
1. Next meeting: 5:00 PM, March 14, 2005, Kern County Library, Ridgecrest
2. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 6:05 PM.

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