Speaker 1: When it comes to the requirements for logging for broadcasters, there isn't as much as you'd think. As far as engineers go, there's only two types of logs for your station. The engineering log and the station log. The station log is the important legal one, so let's cover that first and talk about what is required to be in that log. We can find the requirements for that log in the FCC's Rules and Regulations contained in the Code of Federal Regulations in section 73.1820. That basically tells you what you need in your legal station log. Tower light failures and operations, which is confirming that your tower lights are operating, and if they failed, what happened, when it was observed, and when and how it was fixed. Any activations of the emergency alert system. Any out-of-tolerance conditions and how you corrected them. And anything that's required to be logged as listed in your station license. Usually it's nothing special. Now, if you have a directional AM station, there's some items too. Periodic common point current readings. Antenna phase indications. And antenna sample currents or ratios. Now, I've been told that occasional transmitter power readings are a good idea to have on your station log. Not too frequent. If you get an FCC inspection and it's discovered that your transmitter was out of tolerance, you could be liable up to the last time you logged your transmitter power. So, not too often, but not too long. You don't want to give the FCC too much information. Just what's required. Your station log can be compiled from other logs and notes and transcribed later into the log. As the FCC says. Really, it's typically a single sheet that shows occasional transmitter power readings, EAS activations, and a notes section that talks about any failures or out-of-tolerance conditions and basically how you fixed it. You put the date and time of the entry or of the observation. And every week, your chief operator or their designee reviews the logs and signs it, files it away in a binder, and after two years, purges it. Section 73.1840 says that you keep it for two years except if it involves a communications incident to a disaster or involved in an investigation by the FCC. Here's an example log based off of one that I used in my previous job. You'll notice a section for transmitter readings and a section for EAS activations and one more section for notes about out-of-tolerance conditions or things like that. Now, in this example, my EAS section was basically a printout from my EAS equipment that showed every received activation or test and every sent activation or test. Now, let's talk about your engineering log. And this is just a log meant for you to track what's going on with your facility. You can log as much or as little as you'd like, and it's really up to you for you to watch for trends and to keep track of maintenance. When I was the chief engineer for the broadcast group in California that I worked for recently, I logged quite a bit of information. Transmitter power, reflected power, room temperature, AC power voltage, STL RF levels, etc., etc., etc., etc. Having all of those parameters allowed me to see if something was going to become a problem. I'd see the trend, and then I'd have that ability to try to resolve it before it happened. Usually, it was when the tower would start to ice up, and I could start preparing to make arrangements to fire up the auxiliary site if the ice built up faster than the antenna heaters could keep up. Your station may have other logging requirements, but as far as FCC mandated legal logging requirements, it's your station log. And don't forget to have your chief operator or their designee review it every week. That consists of making sure that all the requirements were met, that EAS tests or activations happened in the week, and if they didn't, why not? Review if there were any out-of-tolerance or failures of equipment and how they were resolved. That's it. Simple. Thanks for watching. There's more about basic broadcast engineering in the playlist. And until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, and keep learning.