The Broadcasters' Desktop Resource

Greetings from your broadcast friends out on the Desert…
This is BDR Newsletter 862, Volume 17, #29 for February 18, 2026

FCC OPEN … FOR NOW
The government shutdown is not yet affecting the FCC, as they have some carryover funds. Today is scheduled for the monthly Open Meeting, where, among other things, the Commissioners will discuss the upcoming NCE translator window and proposed limits.

If the shutdown lingers for weeks, the FCC may be affected, but all functions appear OK today.

FCC TAGS LATE PAYERS
It may take a decade, but the FCC eventually comes back to stations that owe regulartory fees. Two groups, owing as much as $65k were warned by the FCC to pay up – or maybe lose the licenses.

MOVING AN EAS RECEIVER
Did you know that pulling an EAS receiver off-line to move it is not allowed under current FCC Rules? The 60-day rule for repairing or replacing a unit does not cover moving it – but you can apply for a waiver to make a move. Yes, it seems a bit of stiff rule, but recently the FCC told a couple of stations that simply moving the unit was not acceptable.

IMPORTANT CYBER SECURITY INFORMATIOH
With the FCC and GatesAir both issuing warnings, every station large and small should take time to audit the way their equipment is attached to the Internet. OK, it is relatively easy to say that secure access to your gear should always be connected via VPNs, firewalls, or protected network architecture. Still, for many stations that is difficult, if in fact there is someone there that understands the words, much less the implementation.

With that in mind, our Thursday zoom meeting will be focused on ways stations of all sizes can erect better barriers to defeat hackers. We have several folks willing to discuss what they did and offer ideas to help the smallest operation to prevent bad guys from taking over the program or rf systems. Maybe you even have an idea to share?

Join us at 2PM Thursday (11AM Pacific). You will find the link request at www.theBDR.net/TLG/ We are also on youtube live, on thebdrnet channel. Sign up and it will notify you when we go live or post the videos.

Join us tomorrow (Thursday) and enjoy the information. Jeff will always answer any transmitter questions. Can you stump him? The request for the link is, as usual, on www.theBDR.net/TLG/  and thebdrnet channel on youtube.

… and do not forget, on the same page we have over 200 videos you can use on subjects you will want to learn about.