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KFMB Slow Death Thread


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18 minutes ago, A3N said:

Do they even still use Jennifer Markham in the chopper? I don't watch in the mornings, and haven't heard her on the 11a as they use Jenny Milkowski.

 

Markham is still in the chopper (operating the camera), but KFMB doesn’t use her on air since they have Milkowski doing traffic.

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28 minutes ago, A3N said:

Do they even still use Jennifer Markham in the chopper? I don't watch in the mornings, and haven't heard her on the 11a as they use Jenny Milkowski.

She is up there, you can tell because the camera work is so horrible. I'm sure there is more of a reason they hired Jenny, but I have a feeling it's also due to how clueless Markham is up in the Chopper. I remember there was a short pursuit on the 11AM a year back, CBS was carrying it live. It was in the SDSU MidCity area, and Markham was a train wreck narrating up there. I recall Dan Cohen asking her where she was, she literally said she had no idea. Long pauses, sounded very frustrated and very unprepared for what was going on. 

 

Poor Chopper 8 yesterday, could barely keep up with the car going at freeway speeds... chugga chugga!! Signal crapped out when they reached the Lake Hodges area on the 15, causing Fox 5 scramble and cut to break. When the signal was present, looked like it was being transmitted from the Chopper using some LiveU unit, pixilated cellular like quality. I'm sure this is due to the amount of times the video is processed and scrambled down the line? Was very pathetic, yet entertaining to watch. 

 

Where's NewsChopper/SkyRanger 7 Alpha/Bravo? Come on NBC...

(if City got a R44 then we have no excuses for SAN...)

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On 3/5/2019 at 11:13 AM, Eat News said:

They are lucky that chase ended when it did because another 15 miles and they would have lost the microwave signal to Palomar mountain...and there was no L.A.  choppers to intercept the coverage.

 

So are they only connected to the Soledad site for the Chopper? I thought they had multiple "uplink" mountain sites, looks like up even in LA?Screen_Shot_2019-03-06_at_11_22.07_AM.thumb.png.b0bd44a1b9e83f812b317642383b19a7.png

 

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There are multiple sites for the microwave  receivers, but for the most part KFMB uses the 2 "High Sites"  of Mt. Otay and Mt. Palomar for the regular Chopper 8 activity. Everyone else stays on the lower sites most the time.

 

 Mount Otay (Oh-Thai) and Palomar have altitudes of 3500ft to 5000feet and offer lots of transmit range while not interfering with all the other microwave activity on the lower altitude locations of Mount Woodson, Mt. Soledad, Mt Miguel where the portable and van based units play.

The idea is to keep your airborne microwave signals out of the way on the ground based signals, since your chopper is always moving ...and sending radiation all over the place.

 

Anytime a pursuit heads north on interstate 5 or 15 north of Del Mar or Rancho Bernardo...the L.A. desk should be informed so everyone is on the same page in case you have to hand-off to L.A.

 

The real problem is the 2ghz systems in San Diego are not fully integrated into the L.A. desk mentality.  You could pass-off pursuits real easy as long as the techs and deskies are communicating with each other.

 

But the real problem chopper 8 is the lack of understanding exactly what it can...and can't do. Markham and the others in that rear seat are poorly trained on the technical aspect of Chopper 8, and ill trained in police pursuit procedures..  Officer Phil knew the streets and freeways from the air, and he could also draw on his past experience as a police officer. Jennifer, Deb and the rest of them just don't understand how simple it is to "change the channel" for the LA stations.

 

Do we really want chopper 8 covering pursuits in LA airspace???

No...we would prefer an LA Chopper take over any pursuits coming into LA si1nce they know the area much better, but why suddenly lose coverage just because you don't know your equipment capabilities?

 

Chopper 8 should be able to follow any chase into seamlessly into the LA area with a few simple channel changes in the micro transmitter channel and site...and the UHF 2-way / IFB site.

 

All Chopper 8 has to do is call KCBS/KCAL tech ops and say they are "coming your way".  Assign a site...and a channel...and route chopper 8 thru KCBS eng systems....just like they do for their own choppers and live trucks. This shit is all supposed to be compatible with everyone in the whole country.

 

But nobody even thinks of picking up the phone and asking...

 

"Can We route Chopper 8's signal thru LA...and backhaul it  to San Diego while still going live inboth SD and  LA?"

 

Easy Peasy...unless TEGNA removed the CBS LA-SD backhaul feed.

 

Duh!

 

 

 

 

 

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On 3/6/2019 at 12:21 PM, Eat News said:

There are multiple sites for the microwave  receivers, but for the most part KFMB uses the 2 "High Sites"  of Mt. Otay and Mt. Palomar for the regular Chopper 8 activity. Everyone else stays on the lower sites most the time.

 

 Mount Otay (Oh-Thai) and Palomar have altitudes of 3500ft to 5000feet and offer lots of transmit range while not interfering with all the other microwave activity on the lower altitude locations of Mount Woodson, Mt. Soledad, Mt Miguel where the portable and van based units play.

The idea is to keep your airborne microwave signals out of the way on the ground based signals, since your chopper is always moving ...and sending radiation all over the place.

 

This is assuming the receive sites are working, which based on what I'm hearing, TEGNA isn't paying for the upkeep so several are down.

 

4 hours ago, NotInTV said:

Steve Fiorina "Retired" at KGTV, then shows up a few months later at KFMB as a reporter. Does Tegna pay that much more than Scripps?

 

Steve "retired" from KGTV like KFMB's news director was told to "pursue other opportunities." Seems like KFMB is becoming the patron saint for laid off reporters. All the XETV folks and now Steve. Nothing wrong with that if they think he's going to help the station.

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1 hour ago, TVnews said:

 

This is assuming the receive sites are working, which based on what I'm hearing, TEGNA isn't paying for the upkeep so several are down.

 

What site(s) are down?

Cuz that's a pretty big deal .

 

You know Ric Bosscher retired also after 44 years...he was the dude for all that stuff.

 

from sbe36 website...

 

We’ve learned that Rick Bosscher, longtime RF Supervisor at KFMB-AM-FM-TV, turned in his keys for good in mid-December 2018, less than a year after Tegna bought the stations. He was hired by Chief Engineer Charlie Abel in 1977 after installing and servicing the FM and TV transmitters in 1976 as a technician for RCA. ......

 

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3 hours ago, TVnews said:

Steve "retired" from KGTV like KFMB's news director was told to "pursue other opportunities." Seems like KFMB is becoming the patron saint for laid off reporters. All the XETV folks and now Steve. Nothing wrong with that if they think he's going to help the station.

 

Im surprised KFMB is retirement home 2.0

 

KUSI was notorious for getting all the ex KNSD, KGTV, and KFMB folks. Lately it’s been mishmash since they have been hiring younger ones with looks than the retirees.

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On 3/13/2019 at 2:46 PM, Eat News said:

 

What site(s) are down?

Cuz that's a pretty big deal .

 

You know Ric Bosscher retired also after 44 years...he was the dude for all that stuff.

I heard Otay, Mission and Soledad, but I saw a crew in La Jolla recently pointing at Soledad so it may be back.

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  • 3 weeks later...
4 hours ago, NotInTV said:

CBS8.com has been updated to the standard Tegna website. As of this post, TheCWSanDiego.com remains on Frankly.

 

 

Update: The new site is very, very broken.

apparently it's so broken that Nichelle Medina came back...

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...and apparently all the staff bios direct to a sponsored automotive advertisement.  

 

 TheCWSanDiego.com has their own link now, overly plastered with San Diego Living articles, is that what the channel is all about now? 

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 4/3/2019 at 1:42 PM, A3N said:

apparently it's so broken that Nichelle Medina came back...

 

Nichelle IS back...

She was fronting a CBS network entertainment update package on the feed to the west coast affiliates this last week. It was a bit of a surprise for the morning anchor team.

 

But the really BIG news is after all the recent high dollar lay-offs...and the absence of a News Director...CBS-News 8 now has a newsroom dog.

 

Meet (coyote food) Scoop...the newsroom dog (poop machine) that will soon have zee own facebook page.

 

 

 

It's not the first time KFMB had a mascot...

We all remember "Flyer" the Chopper 8 mascot who fell (jumped to his death) in 2001 during an airborne promo shoot over Spring Valley.

 

Just some advice...

 

Don't leave Scoop in a hot live truck...

Don't let Scoop run free near Zion Market...or in Linda Vista...

 

...and NO flying in Chopper 8.

 

https://www.cbs8.com/article/life/animals/meet-scoop-newsroom-dog-joins-news-8-family/509-db804c8d-95b7-44de-bacc-5c53197c6a2a

 

scoop.JPG.5ae0074ab0de8d0b0e1ef97b62304b2a.JPG

 

In memory of Flyer...

"We Shall Never Forget"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Too bad there’s no video, I’d love to see the reaction. KPIX didn’t show Nichelle due to 2 breaking news stories so they had anchors doing a short hand package reading it with video.

 

nothing tops out Erica Fox when she visited San Diego to emcee an event after leaving KSWB to go to WLKY after a few years and they brought her in for a tease for the 9am

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  • 3 months later...

The good news is everyone survived...

https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/east-county-news/news-helicopter-makes-troubled-landing-in-el-cajon

 

We can stick a fork in old "Chopper 8" (N218GH) ...cuz she is done.

https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Helicopter-Tips-Over-Trying-to-Land-at-Gillespie-Field-558489901.html

 

image.thumb.png.d9af6b6a147ada9e352358872874005e.png

image.png.753746d89330016a2179e466d9d25480.png

 

KGTV beat KFMB on their own story. Jo Eager was running the camera. They were landing on a Dolly but missed the square.

 

This shows the Dolly they were landing on...

They usually are recording during the landing sequence...lets see how long it take to release that video.

 

image.thumb.png.5dc6812a33d80a89468830d2fd0f8c0d.png

 

Once again...everyone will be fine...

Except the airship....which will most likely be salvaged and rebuilt .

 

 

 

 

 

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All the usual jokes aside about Chopper 8, I am very glad that everyone is alive and will recover from this.

 

However, I wonder what will happen from here on out? Is the Chopper still in the works with Welk Aviation/ACA in Pacoima, would they send down the A-Star like before? I am sure the local news chopper agreement is still in place, and they must provide a Chopper for all outlets? Who knows, maybe this is the final straw for 8?

 

For any of you fellow AvGeeks out there, here is the data from the last flight 218GH had. https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n218gh#21de1bb6

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I love how they pass this off as some "difficult landing" and they also bury the "Chopper 8" aspect in the last graph.

https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/news-helicopter-makes-difficult-landing-at-gillespie-field-ends-up-on-its-side/509-0ca3e918-e9da-4c2d-aac5-7b12af918ff4

 

Difficult landing my ass... That's a crash according to the FAA.

 

 

 

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45 minutes ago, Eat News said:

The good news is everyone survived...

https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/east-county-news/news-helicopter-makes-troubled-landing-in-el-cajon

 

We can stick a fork in old "Chopper 8" (N218GH) ...cuz she is done.

https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Helicopter-Tips-Over-Trying-to-Land-at-Gillespie-Field-558489901.html

 

image.thumb.png.d9af6b6a147ada9e352358872874005e.png

image.png.753746d89330016a2179e466d9d25480.png

 

KGTV beat KFMB on their own story. Jennifer Markham was running the camera. They were landing on a Dolly but missed the square.

 

This shows the Dolly they were landing on...

They usually are recording during the landing sequence...lets see how long it take to release that video.

 

image.thumb.png.5dc6812a33d80a89468830d2fd0f8c0d.png

 

Once again...everyone will be fine...

Except the airship....which will most likely be salvaged and rebuilt like old N20DB was.

 

TEGNA isn't one to rebuild helicopters or even buy a helicopter. They'll probably setup a Service Sharing Agreement with either KNSD or KGTV.

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Chopper 8 was not owned nor operated by KFMB; It's operated by Welk Aviation. The chopper is part of a sharing agreement between Total Traffic and the local news stations, it would be up to them as to what they do next.

 

I don't think we're at that point where you can really replace a news chopper with a drone or set of drones, just yet. Yes, the overhead expenses for Drones are substantially lower than a regular news chopper, but you have to factor all the logistics in trying to get that drone airborne. Also, they have to coordinate with first responders so as not to hinder their ability to do their jobs.

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On 8/27/2019 at 4:50 PM, TheOneManHerd said:

Not to get too off-topic; but news choppers are not long for this world. You can buy a truckload of drones for the price of an annual chopper lease. 

 

You can't cover a high speed chase, a wildfire or a morning traffic commute with a drone . Those are staples of coverage here.

 

The choppers are here to stay (in Socal) for now.

Welk ACA/ Guardian can find a pilot and ferry "12YJ"  (green weenie) down from Whiteman Field...where it sits on standby as a back-up to Chopper 8.

 

 

 

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