Mid-Atlantic Engineering Service

12/25/2025

Merry Christmas to ALL!

Enjoy the sounds of the season from WYVS-WIZR - AM 930, 102.9, 96.5 The Star!

http://wizrwyvsthestar.com

Remember us for all of your engineering and station programming needs in 2026!

11/28/2025

We haven't posted here in quite some time. We are still here providing engineering services to radio and tv stations across the state.

If your radio station has been operating for a while with no engineering help, perhaps it is time to give us a call or drop us an email.

Stations/groups that do not think that preventative maintenance is important or trying to cut cost, in the long run that lack of preventative maintenance will turn costly. Todays equipment might seem more reliable than ever before, but the reality is, it needs eyes placed on it just as much as the older equipment. Conditions can and often occur that do not always show up on a remote control or even a remote security camera.

Give us a shout today and let us help you sleep better at night and conduct business during the day.

01/08/2023

2024 was a busy year! It was busy enough that visiting our page here took a back seat. If you are an FCC licensed radio station looking for engineering services, give us a shout. Visit our contact us page at maes-llc.com and reach us through any of the listed contact methods.

We work only under contract, no back room hand shake deals. Having a signed contract guarantees that if you have an emergency, or if you call, text or email us, you will get a response. A monthly retainer will get you a monthly visit to check on your faculties, to make sure everything is running properly and is in compliance with the rules. Monthly preventive maintenance reduces down time. If you are off the air, you do not make money. We strive to keep your station up and running.

What we do NOT do is help unlicensed/pirate stations setup an operation or fix one. We do not drive hundreds of miles to setup part 15 stations. We will give you advice via email for part 15 issues and setups, but it isn't economical for you or I to drive to your location and setup your part 15 station.

We do not climb towers, however we do partner with a few companies that do tower work that involves painting, lighting, repairs/installations for FM antennas.

We do take care of everything from the mic to the transmitter and consult on a variety of things. Contact us for all of the information at our "contact us" page at maes-llc.com

We look forward to hearing from you.

Radio and Television Broadcast Engineering Radio Broadcast Engineering Services for the Mid-Atlantic region of the USA. AM/FM/satellite radio engineering, Technical Consultants in Communications, Media, Broadcasting, Systems Technology and FCC Regulation

05/28/2022

The FCC issued a draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to be considered at its required monthly open meeting on June 8 that asks for public comment on its proposal to authorize LPTV stations operating on TV channel 6 to continue to provide an analog audio stream that can be received on FM radios at 87.7. Its proposal would limit that authorization in many ways, including suggesting that the authority would be restricted to those LPTV Channel 6 stations already providing such an audio service. The Notice also asks for comments as to whether Channel 6, in geographic areas where it is not currently used for TV services, should be repurposed for FM use. If the FCC adopts this Notice at its June meeting, comment dates will be announced by a Federal Register publication.

The FCC, at its May open meeting held last Thursday, adopted its order approving the use of computer modeling for FM directional antenna – eliminating the need under current rules for a measured relative field pattern verified through either a full-scale mockup or a scale model on a test range or in an anechoic chamber. The Order will be effective at a later date after publication in the Federal Register.

The FCC’s Office of Economics and Analytics issued the FCC’s annual call for comments on the State of Competition in the Communications Marketplace. Comments are due July 1 with reply comments due August 1. These comments are used to prepare a report to Congress on communications competition issues and are sometimes referenced by the FCC itself in proceedings dealing with competition issues. The FCC seeks comments on a list of questions about competition in both the Video and Audio marketplaces, including the impact of digital competitors on traditional providers and the role that regulation plays in the competitive landscape.

In its continuing review of applicants for new noncommercial FM stations filed during the filing window in 2021, the FCC reversed a decision granting an application for a new station in Mississippi based on its proposed coverage. The decision was reversed as the FCC found that a showing of the populations covered by the proposed new station, which supported the claims for that preference, was not filed by the deadline date for the filing of applications. As the FCC procedures for the filing window required all claims for preferences be filed by the application deadline, the grant was rescinded, and another application was granted instead.
In Auction 112, the sale of construction permits for 27 new full-power TV stations, mostly in rural western markets, the FCC announced that there were 10 qualified applicants who had paid their upfront fees to participate in the auction where bidding is scheduled to begin on June 7, 2021.

On Capitol Hill, a bipartisan group of 4 senators introduced legislation which, if adopted, would force large online platform to own only one of the three parts of the digital ad ecosystem – they could only be a Supply-side ad provider (bundling advertising availabilities to provide them to an ad exchange), an Advertising Exchange (where buyers and sellers are matched), or a Demand-side provider (where those buying advertising come to buy ads on the exchanges). Smaller digital advertising platforms would also be regulated to require more transparency and to avoid internal conflicts of interest. The proposed legislation is intended to boost competition in digital advertising sales and to lower the costs allegedly imposed by the overlapping interests of companies with interests in multiple aspects of the digital ad sales process.

Call us today to get setup with regular maintenance check ups on your station! Remember, if you don't schedule maintenance, your equipment will "schedule" it for you...meaning unwanted downtime at the most inconvenient time! No one wants or needs that!

AM stations have to have an annual NRSC test done. Contact us today for assistance.

The Alternative Broadcast Inspection (ABIP) cycle has begun! We can perform an inspection on your station to help you find where you may have weak, legal troubling spots so they may be correct before a real inspection comes a calling. You'll then be able to take the official and pricey ABIP through your state broadcasters association and pass with flying colors!

Go to maes-llc.com and go to our "contact us" page. I look forward to hearing from you!

09/15/2021

NAB Show - Canceled!

Read more at --> https://nabshow.com/2021/

08/29/2021

This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: August 21, 2021 to August 27, 2021

Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the last week, with information as to how these actions may affect your operations.

On Friday, the FCC released its decision setting 2021 annual regulatory fees. In a win for broadcasters, the NAB and other broadcast groups convinced the FCC to lower the broadcast fees that the FCC had initially proposed, avoiding a proposed significant increase in the fees on radio. As was the case last year, stations that can show that COVID significantly affected their finances may qualify to pay their fees over time, rather than in the lump sum that will be due before October 1. The FCC will release a Public Notice in the next few days announcing the window during which broadcasters are to pay their fees.

The FCC’s Media Bureau continues to scrutinize television license renewals. This week, the Bureau announced that a South Carolina TV station faces a $3,000 fine for uploading four quarterly issues/programs lists more than one year late and three lists between one month and one year late. The violations were discovered during the FCC staff’s review of the stations’ public files for license renewal. It also admonished a Mississippi TV station for uploading two lists between one month and one year late, and eight lists between one day and one month late.

In our weekly update last week, we noted a proposed $3500 fine on a broadcaster who had completed construction of a new FM translator and commenced its operations, but forgot to timely file a license application informing the FCC of the completion of construction in accordance with the translator’s construction permit. Showing that this fine is now a standard in similar cases, the FCC issued four more decisions this week imposing similar penalties. These decisions remind broadcasters who are building new technical facilities authorized by an FCC construction permit to file a license application before the construction deadline showing that they have timely constructed the station as authorized by their permit.

Flo & Eddie, leaders of the 1960s band the Turtles, were again rejected—this time by a federal appeals court in California—in their latest attempt to get a court to recognize a right to receive royalties for the public performance of pre-1972 sound recordings. The case had implications for broadcasters, as a contrary decision could have recognized a state-based performance royalty that could have applied to over-the-air radio and to anyone else who played these oldies in public in California. Watch for an article with more details on this decision later this week.

Call us today to get setup with regular maintenance check ups on your station! Remember, if you don't schedule maintenance, your equipment will "schedule" it for you...meaning unwanted downtime at the most inconvenient time! No one wants or needs that!

AM stations have to have an annual NRSC test done. Contact us today for assistance.

The Alternative Broadcast Inspection (ABIP) cycle has begun! We can perform an inspection on your station to help you find where you may have weak, legal troubling spots so they may be correct before a real inspection comes a calling. You'll then be able to take the official and pricey ABIP through your state broadcasters association and pass with flying colors!

Go to midatlanticengineeringservice.com and go to our "contact us" page. I look forward to hearing from you!

08/23/2021

This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: August 14, 2021 to August 20, 2021

Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the last week as to how these actions may affect your operations.

Two Federal Register notices set dates for changes to the FCC’s EAS rules.
One notice set an effective date of September 20, 2021 for rule changes expanding FEMA’s ability to send emergency alerts during national emergencies and requesting that States that don’t have effective State Emergency Communications Committees (SECC) activate one. Other rules changes adopted at the same time will take effect after further Paperwork Reduction Act review and approval. These include rule changes allowing government entities to report false EAS alerts to the FCC, requiring submission of State EAS plans to the FCC for its review, requesting annual updates to State EAS plans, and mandating annual SECC meetings.
A second Federal Register notice announced that the FCC will accept comments through October 19 and reply comments through November 18 on several other EAS changes, including whether to delete, redefine, or replace certain EAS codes that are no longer relevant or may cause confusion, and whether to update EAS to support “persistent” alerts that continue to be transmitted through EAS for the duration of an emergency involving possible loss of life.

The FCC proposed a $3,500 fine against the licensee of a new Oklahoma FM translator for its failure to file a license application and for its subsequent unlicensed operation after the completion of its construction. As a reminder, when you have a construction permit for a new station and complete construction, you need to file with the FCC a license application certifying that construction was compete in the manner set out in the permit – for translators, before commencing operations.
Two radio stations entered into consent decrees with the FCC over their failure to comply with the FCC’s online public file rules and, in one case, failure to file biennial ownership reports. In the first case, a commercial station appears to have failed to upload any quarterly issues/programs lists. In the second case, a noncommercial station appears to have not uploaded any quarterly issues/programs lists or filed any biennial ownership reports for the entirety of its license period. In each case, the consent decrees impose reporting conditions and other paperwork requirements so that the FCC can more closely supervise the operations of the stations in the future. These decisions are another reminder that you need to be sure your station’s online public file is complete and accurate, as the FCC will scrutinize it when it processes your license renewal application.

The FCC issued a Public Notice setting out a dispute resolution process for the reimbursement due to C-band satellite dish operators by the satellite companies for costs the dish operators incur as a result of the partial repurposing of the C-band so that it can be used by wireless carriers. This notice should serve as a reminder that the transition deadline for C-Band operators in Phase I markets is December 5, 2021 (Phase 1 stations are located in Partial Economic Areas 1-50, except stations in the Washington, DC area and certain counties in Georgia, Colorado, and Hawaii ). By that date, C-band earth stations in Phase I markets need to install filters or make other changes to avoid interference from the new wireless users. The transition deadline for the remaining markets is December 5, 2023.

In the last two weeks, the FCC’s reimbursement coordinator, RPC, has begun emailing entities holding C-band earth station authorizations, alerting them that RPC has begun to accept claims for C-band transition reimbursements, including for lump sum payments. To be reimbursed, C-band operators need to set up an account in RPC’s Coupa payment system. When RPC will begin paying out the reimbursements is, at this point, still not known.

Call us today to get setup with regular maintenance check ups on your station! Remember, if you don't schedule maintenance, your equipment will "schedule" it for you...meaning unwanted downtime at the most inconvenient time! No one wants or needs that!
AM stations have to have an annual NRSC test done. Contact us today for assistance.
The Alternative Broadcast Inspection (ABIP) cycle has begun! We can perform an inspection on your station to help you find where you may have weak, legal troubling spots so they may be correct before a real inspection comes a calling. You'll then be able to take the official and pricey ABIP through your state broadcasters association and pass with flying colors!.

Go to midatlanticengineeringservice.com and go to our "contact us" page. I look forward to hearing from you!

08/16/2021

This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: August 7, 2021 to August 13, 2021

Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the last week, and as to how these actions may affect your operations.

The FCC and FEMA conducted their annual Nationwide Test of the EAS system on Wednesday, August 11. All broadcasters should have submitted “day of” test results in the FCC’s ETRS system by Thursday, August 12, and are required to provide more detailed information about the test results in ETRS Form Three due by September 27, 2021. (FEMA/FCC Announcement) It is a good idea however to go ahead and fill out form 3 while completing form 2. Form 3 will ask for details about the test as in, who did you receive the test from first and at what time. Best to complete form 3 now while the information is readly handy instead of waiting a month or so and having to find the EAS logs from 8/11.

The FCC this week announced the close of Auction 109, which offered for sale construction permits for 139 new radio stations – 4 AM stations in the St. Louis area whose licenses were surrendered by the prior licensee, and 135 new FM channels. 97 of the channels were sold but 42, including the AM stations, went unsold. The FCC’s announcement also sets post-auction deadlines for winning bidders to submit their payments and long-form applications for the channels that they won. The FCC will raise $12,344,110 from the auction – though over $9,000,000 of that is to be paid for two channels – over $6 million for a Sacramento FM and over $3 million for an FM to be licensed to a community just north of the Dallas metro.

The FCC issued a Public Notice reminding all full-power and Class A TV stations that were repacked in Phases 1 through 5 of the post-incentive auction repacking of the TV band (and repacked stations that were granted permission to transition prior to Phase 1) that they must submit all remaining invoices for reimbursement from the TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund no later than October 8, 2021. The remaining full-power stations must submit their reimbursement requests by March 22, 2022, with others eligible to receive repacking funds (LPTV and TV translator stations as well as radio and MVPD claimants) needing to submit their reimbursement requests by September 5, 2022.

Bills were introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate seeking to bring back the minority tax certificate, providing a deferral of taxable gain to the seller of a broadcast station who sells their station to a buyer controlled by “socially disadvantaged individuals.” These individuals are defined as women and members of groups that have been subject to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias – such groups to be defined by FCC rulemaking.

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC), and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) filed a petition with the US Court of Appeals seeking review of recently adopted FCC rules which these groups argue impose unnecessary burdens on broadcasters to conduct inquiries about any entity that leases program time on broadcast stations to see if the entity must be identified on the air as a representative of a foreign government.

The FCC issued notices of violations to the operator of two FM translators that were operating with unmodulated signals at times when their primary station was silent. These notices remind FM translator operators that their stations must shut down if they do not receive a signal on their input channel.

We alerted website owners to a recent court decision suggesting that embedding pictures or video hosted by a social media site on their website without permission of the copyright owner may not excuse the website from liability for copyright infringement. Old court decisions that suggest that no liability would arise unless the copyrighted content is hosted on the server controlled by the website owner may no longer be good law. In the recent court decision, the judge found that, if a website viewer would assume that a picture or video has been provided by the website owner, that owner should get permission of the copyright owner before displaying the content on their site.

Call us today to get setup with regular maintenance check ups on your station! Remember, if you don't schedule maintenance, your equipment will "schedule" it for you...meaning unwanted downtime at the most inconvenient time! No one wants or needs that!
AM stations have to have an annual NRSC test done. Contact us today for assistance.
The Alternative Broadcast Inspection (ABIP) cycle has begun! We can perform an inspection on your station to help you find where you may have weak, legal troubling spots so they may be correct before a real inspection comes a calling. You'll then be able to take the official and pricey ABIP through your state broadcasters association and pass with flying colors!.
Another national EAS test is coming up this Wednesday! Is your station(s) all set? If not, there is still limited time, we can advise and help.
Go to midatlanticengineeringservice.com and go to our "contact us" page. I look forward to hearing from you!

08/08/2021

This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: July 31, 2021 to August 6, 2021

Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the last week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.

In the run-up to the August 11 National EAS Test, the FCC released a Public Notice reminding broadcasters to ensure their EAS equipment is all updated, their EAS equipment can receive and process the National Periodic Test code (the “six zeroes” national location code), and their equipment is configured for the monitoring assignments designated in their State EAS Plans. This year’s test will not be distributed over the internet using IPAWS but will instead use traditional broadcast distribution, which will cause the aural and visual messages received by TV viewers to not be identical. Stations must file EAS Form Two “day of test” information by August 12 and EAS Form Three with post-test data by September 27.

In other EAS news, the FCC Enforcement Bureau proposed a $20,000 fine against ESPN for alleged violation of the FCC rules that prohibit the transmission of false or deceptive EAS tones. In an episode of 30 for 30, the tones were heard briefly during the dramatic depiction of a severe weather event, though ESPN said the tones could not have triggered any automated relay equipment. This is another reminder that the FCC prohibits use of EAS tones – real or simulated – not tied to an actual emergency or test.

Nearly 200 radio and TV stations have been randomly selected by the FCC for an audit of their compliance with the FCC’s EEO rules. Station employment units (i.e., commonly owned stations serving the same area) with five or more full-time employees are required to provide to the FCC (by posting the information in their online public inspection file) their EEO Annual Public File reports for the last two years, as well as backup data showing that the station did everything that was required under the EEO rules. Station employment units exempt from EEO reporting (i.e., they employ fewer than five full-time employees) still need to respond to the audit, though with much less paperwork. The deadline for posting audit information in the public file is September 20.

The FCC’s Media Bureau is seeking comment on a petition filed by the four major networks affiliates’ association regarding recently adopted rules that require broadcasters make specific sponsorship identification disclosures about programming blocks purchased by a foreign government or their representatives, and to take steps to assess if parties leasing airtime on a station requires such disclosures. The affiliates are concerned that the new rules might be read to apply to common forms of broadcast advertising and asked the FCC to clarify that these rules do not apply when a station sells time to advertisers in the normal course of business, no matter the length of the advertisement. The Media Bureau encouraged commenters that agree with the affiliates’ position “to provide objective criteria that could distinguish between advertising and arrangements for the lease of airtime” and “to articulate specific characteristics that might distinguish what they consider to be advertising from a lease of airtime on a station, such as duration, content, editorial control, or differences in the nature of the contractual relationship between the third-party and the station.” Comments on the petition are due by September 2, 2021, with reply comments due by September 17, 2021.

Two Class A TV stations face fines of $15,000 and $20,000 for failing to timely upload a significant number of quarterly issues/programs lists to their public file. These notices are reminders that the FCC scrutinizes public files as part of its evaluation of a station’s license renewal application and that stations need to stay on top of their upload deadlines if they want to avoid these penalties. Issues/programs lists are the only FCC-required documents that demonstrate a station’s public service to its community.

The FCC voted to begin a rulemaking that proposes two updates to the political broadcasting rules. The first proposal would add use of social media and creation of a campaign website as factors to consider when determining if a write-in candidate has made a “substantial showing” of a bona fide campaign for office so that they can be considered a “legally qualified candidate.” The second proposal would update the political file recordkeeping rules to require that stations upload to their political files any request for advertising time that “communicates a message relating to any political matter of national importance” (i.e., federal issue ads). Comments and reply comments will be due 30 days and 45 days, respectively, after publication of the item in the Federal Register.

The comment period has been set for interested parties who want to weigh in on several technical changes the FCC has proposed making to its rules for radio. Read the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and have your comments and reply comments in by September 7 and September 20, respectively.

Auction 109 for new broadcast stations has ended, with construction permits for nearly 100 new FM stations being sold. The four St. Louis-area AM licenses received no bids. See the list of winning bidders at https://auctiondata.fcc.gov/public/projects/auction109/reports/provisionally_winning_bids

Keep an eye on Capitol Hill, where the Local Journalism Sustainability Act was recently introduced in the House and Senate, designed to support local media in the face of more advertising dollars migrating to digital media. If this proposal was to become law, a tax credit of up to $5,000 would be available to small business advertisers who place advertising in either a local newspaper or on a local broadcast station. Local media outlets could also receive tax credits of up to $12,500 for hiring a local journalist.

Call us today to get setup with regular maintenance check ups on your station! Remember, if you don't schedule maintenance, your equipment will "schedule" it for you...meaning unwanted downtime at the most inconvenient time! No one wants or needs that!

AM stations have to have an annual NRSC test done. Contact us today for assistance.

The Alternative Broadcast Inspection (ABIP) cycle has begun! We can perform an inspection on your station to help you find where you may have weak, legal troubling spots so they may be correct before a real inspection comes a calling. You'll then be able to take the official and pricey ABIP through your state broadcasters association and pass with flying colors!.

Another national EAS test is coming up this Wednesday! Is your station(s) all set? If not, there is still limited time, we can advise and help.
Go to midatlanticengineeringservice.com and go to our "contact us" page. I look forward to hearing from you!

08/03/2021

A new EAS handbook has been issued by the FCC. Stations, download, print, fill out the blanks within the handbook and post the new EAS handbook in your control rooms ASAP.

A reminder...the national test is coming soon on 8/11/21! Is your station ready? You should have already filled out the required form online. If you need assistance, feel free to reach out to us!

Download your 2021 EAS Handbook here -->