This month our quest speaker is Richard Strauss from Communications Concepts who will speak on Digital Satellite Technologies. Topics included are MPEG compression overview, SPCP (single channel per carrier), MCPC (Multiple channel per carrier), FEC (forward error correction), and the unique advantages of digital transmission. As usual our luncheon will be at Sinbads. Sinbad's is just south of the Ferry Building on the Embarcadero near the foot of Mission Street. Please RSVP to Karen Prasek at Zack's: 408-324-0551 x126 as we've been running out of tables and chairs. We meet at 11:30 and are seated at 12:30.

The following meetings are currently scheduled:

OCT 30TH - ORBAN - Digital Signal Processors
NOV 27TH - Peter M. Langtry -LOWNEY ASSOCIATES - Regulations regarding the operation, maintenance, and management of underground fuel storage tanks.
DEC - No Meeting

Marci Mearns of Brill is trying to round up all the bay area gang for a dinner during World Media Expo in LA. The date is Friday Oct 11th at Taylor's Prime Steaks, 3361 West Eighth St., LA. Social hour at 6:30 and dinner at 7pm. The cost is $19.75 with a choice of steak, chicken, or fish. Please contact Marci at 510-308-1248 or [email protected].

This year I was a good boy, and made my reservations, and will actually be at the designated SBE hotel instead of on the outskirts of Tijuana.

Leo's Audio has their seminar series going again. The next one is the 26th at their Oakland store at 5447 Telegraph Ave from 4-7pm with Dave McCarthy, Lexicon product specialist, on signal processing in the digital project studio. I believe they may have this posted on their web page at www.leosaudio.com. Call either 510-652-1553 or 415-775-1317 to get on their mailing list.

Last month we had a last minute change with Andrew canceling out and Harris taking up the slack. I had done the newsletter early so I could go on vacation. But if we had everyone's email address, it would have been possible to update you on the change. (Actually I did send an update to our web page at http://www.lns.com/sbe but netcom managed to lose it.) The keeper of the SBE email roster is Warren Reese whose address is [email protected]. If you are into ham packet transmission, please list that with him as well.

CAPTAIN Z-RO AT THE CONTROLS OF HIS TIME PROJECTION MACHINE
KRON-TV - CIRCA 1952

When Bill Palmer passed away this summer it kind of closed off an era which took in much of local TV in the 50s. All the stations had telco circuits into Palmer Film because he did kinescope recordings. If you really wanted to save something, recording it on film was the only way to do it until video tape came along in 1956. And Palmer was also able to produce programs directly on 16mm for syndication. One such show was Captain Z-Ro which ran live on KRON-TV in the early days. It was written and produced by Roy Steffensen who also played the Captain. The plot involved going back to historical events in a time machine. And it's hard to imagine the transporter on Star-Trek or Mr. Peabody's "way- back" machine being anything other than knock-offs of Z-Ro's Time Projector. Please note in the photo that Z-Ro was an analog kind of guy who used a microscope to find the spot on the globe that his beam would take him and his fellow adventurers to.

Palmer produced 26 episodes of Captain Z-Ro for syndication. Some of them used footage from kinescopes of live programs. But a battle over rights erupted with the syndicating company and that pretty much shut down the distribution of the program.

Steffensen went onto a career as an art director for motion pictures and television. He's retired and lives in Southern California. He signs his letters in Captain Z-Ro fashion: "Good luck in time and space."