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Our March SBE 3 program, given by Bruce Lane, was a follow up of a KAB session last October. One of the things he touched on was a comparison
between Cable linked and IP linked camera connections - especially in regard to that on a remote truck. Modern cameras can have multiple return videos, multiple video outputs, along with multiple channel audio -
sometimes up to 16 audio channels for each video, in addition to cueing, Intercom, etc., going to and from each camera. This can make for massive cables. This adds to the weight of the trucks, which are often
designed to within 98% of their grow weight restrictions. Using IP connected cameras, you have two Ethernet cables attached for each camera. Some difference when you think about it. However, exchanging copper cable
for each function within each device is not as easy as it seems since each one will now need an IP address. Getting all of those arranged and manually entered into a router or switch can be a daunting task, and if a
mistake is made, can bring down a network, or slow it to a crawl, rendering it unusable. Bruce also noted that designing in a smaller router with capacity nearly expended is not a good option because you ultimately
will be called on to add devices to your network that will exceed the capability of your existing router. It is likely you would have to add four routers with the same capacity as the old one, or rip the original
out and add an new one with double the capacity of the old one. Neither is a good scenario. Plan for expansion from the get go! Bruce told of some of his experiences on remote shoots when he worked Bruins games. He
said most remote production companies have on site frequency coordinators, and predicts that IP coordination services will soon be needed on most major remote productions.
On a multiple truck setup for a game, most outfits interconnect still at baseband, rather than IP. Many trucks still are in a hybrid mode,
using some IP and some baseband connections; some are all one or the other, but the fact remains, that when interconnecting at IP, one new addition with a conflict can bring down the entire network at that site. If
baseband interconnects are made, you may not get to use the extra five cameras brought in because of a connection fault, but the network remains intact and operational while the problems are being sorted out. Bruce
went into great detail about correct IP setup. Most networks are built with redundant sync generators, generally labeled Grand Master References, which feed into one or more area switches called Slave Clocks that
regenerate the clocking pulse. Remember that in IP, the clocking reference is a two way connection, to allow adjustment of changing latency that occurs over IP connections. The Slave Clocks reduce that two way
traffic that would otherwise go back to the Grand Master Reference and bog it down. Back to the redundancy part - the setup is dependant on IP numbers assigned, and the lowest IP is selected for Priority One.
Likewise on Priority two. Each is considered when a failure occurs and is most important if a failure occurs. If improperly set, the changeover will not happen and your timing will suffer or fail. Most Grand Master
clocks are references to GPS for their most accurate timing, but what happens if you drive your truck into a Madison Square Garden or other building, and the GPS signal is no longer available? Check out the White
Paper available under https://www.telestream.net/video/resources.htm #Literature, and click on "Diagnosing and Resolving Faults in an Operational IP Video Network" for more information and instruction on this matter.
I was thinking about o'scopes the other day and I wondered what had happened to the business of producing those scope carts that accompanied
every scope not dedicated to a rack or benchtop. They aren't as prominent in control rooms now, since LED screens and computer interfaces have come into being along with the miniaturization that has occurred. Then I
remembered where I had last seen one. It was in our Doctor's exam room, holding several medical monitor devices. Now the medical test gear is wheeled to the patient rather than wheeling the patient to a room where
the test gear is located! The business didn't go away at all, it just morphed a little bit and expanded. A quick report on KSNW Channel change from 45 to 15.
Martin Heffner reported from Winfield last month during a 6 hour full power test. Full time full power was suppose to begin noon March 11, so
in the meantime, I had rescanned the RV OTA TV and found poor reception. Without changing the antenna rotation, I checked again the afternoon of March 11. It was rock solid! I bet Warren will sleep better tonight.
Bob Locke mentioned at the last SBE-3 meeting that there might be a possibility of a program there. I think we do have a November slot open. It
would appear Wichita was one of the last to complete the repack moves. In the Kansas City TV Market, KCMI-38, KSHB-41, and KSMO- 62 have already completed their moves about a year ago. In Omaha, NE, the CBS, Fox,
and CW stations have already completed their moves in the summer months of 2019. In Joplin, the ABC and NBC stations completed their moves in April of 2019, and the PBS in September of 2018. In the Topeka market,
KTKA - ABC-49 and KTMJ-CD - FOX-43 will be making phase 10 changes May 2, 2020 - July 3, 2020. I looked up Amarillo, TX for SW KS coverage It had 37 LP's or Translators, but no move info. All above information
includes no LP-TV's nor Translator information, and was obtained from TVAnswers.org, an NAB website.
John Langer referred me to an article on hacking of Automobile key fobs found in Electronic Products Magazine. Modern cars are a rolling mass
of multiple and sometimes interrelated electronic systems that control items like fuel mixture, ignition timing, braking, windshield wipers, window control, remote start, door and trunk locks, collision avoidance
and navigation aids, and the list is only growing as hybrid and all electric vehicles enter the market. Who would have thought twenty years ago that you could start your car from your place of employment five
minutes before you leave work, and enter a cool car, even though it has been sitting all afternoon in the sun. Today some vehicles even back out of the garage while you wait in the driveway forerunner feature of
driverless cars. The problem with all this is that the keyfob that controls the above features, and the computers that handle so much of the essential functions of today's cars are not well protected against being
hacked by those who will take advantage of the rich field of opportunities available to them.  Key fobs work by means of a RFID transponder that sends encrypted data to the
vehicle, which decrypts it, authenticates the user's ability to unlock the vehicle and to start the motor. The authentication is performed by the vehicle immobilizer, an anti theft module
that gets you a discount on your car insurance. Unfortunately, that encryption can be broken in a number of ways. A Google search will yield a list of several key fob
failures. Many manufacturers use and reuse the same technology as other car makers, and use the same scheme across their entire product line. The same chipset is used by
most car manufacturers. This makes a successful hack on one model useable on different models of cars. Some of this is possible because the key fobs often don't have enough
capacity to start their encryption based on a truly random number., Rather they base it on some public readable number such as the serial number of that key fob. One key
fob uses a 384 byte EEPROM for their encryption base, allowing a rapid process of elimination attack to quickly discover a means of entry to control it.
An example of Public Key Infrastructure - (PKI). In this example, the object
is to purchase goods. For vehicle entry, substitute a car in place of the retail purchase of goods or wares.
Several key fobs use strings of as little as 40 or 80 bit key lengths, making an easy hack. NIST recommends encryption lengths
of 128 bits or longer for symmetrical encryption which is less secure than unsymmetrical encryption. The solution is going to
take an investment in hardware (chipsets) robust enough to allow asymmetric, certificate based encryption, combined with Public
Keyed Infrastructure solutions, such as those offered by Sectigo IoT Identity Management. In cryptography, a PKI is an
arrangement that binds public keys with respective identities of entities (like people and organizations). The binding is
established through a process of registration and issuance of certificates at and by a certificate authority (CA). Another solution
in the works is available with some smart phone's secured apps made possible because of increased strength of their encryption,
and the ability of those apps to be upgraded as solutions to new hacks are attempted. However this would only be possible if the
vehicle exclusively used the phone app, and not current key fob technologies. The key here is to make it so difficult to hack that
there must be an easier way to make a quick buck without expending physical labor, or to establish yourself as superior when it
comes to software, which seems to be one of the aims of most hackers. The possibility of easily up-gradable security fixes may
be another ongoing answer to this problem - one similar to the security on your computer or smart phone, That being so,
because there is no encryption that eventually cannot be broken. At present, If a security risk is discovered on a key fob, a
software fix is only possible by taking the car back to the dealer for the necessary reprogramming. Were it possible to do this
through WiFi in each car, security on the fly might have a chance to keep ahead of the hackers who would love to kidnap control of your car in a ransom attack.
This entire CoVid-19 situation is amazing. I read recently about one fellow that had washed his hands so many times he re
-discovered crib notes he had written on his hands for a pending seventh grade history examination. It is as though the entire
world has been put on time-out, universally affecting economies, social behavior, political campaigns, and definitely providing
more news fodder than has been available for a century or more. Let us all hope something is learned from it. It will be interesting
to compare notes between those of you who had to rig up connections in several different locations for on-air personalities
working from home. For the most part of the ones I have seen, they have been fairly solid. I'll be surprised if that isn't a topic of
conversation at the annual Chapter 3 picnic. The thing that amazed me is the speed with which this was accomplished on the three major networks in Wichita. It had to be with IP. Newly announced
 President/Executive Director (of KAB) Allison Mazzei is getting a great education on how to handle
extraordinary events. Allison will start on June 1 and will continue to work with Kent the remainder of this year. She is a communications and fundraising strategist who has worked with dozens of
organizations during her career to connect and cultivate their constituent bases. She spent the past 12 years at Pennington and Company where she was recognized for outstanding customer service and for
achieving fundraising milestones for multimillion-dollar campaigns. Allison holds a BS in journalism from the University of Kansas and resides in Lawrence, Kansas, with her family. Welcome Allison! As
always, stay strong and call if the KAB can help. (From KAB Transmitter) Kent Cornish has been tutoring Allison, and will continue to be available for consulting to KAB after he retires. His service to
broadcasters in Kansas has been extraordinary. We wish him well in his new venture of life.
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