Our friend and colleague John F. X. Browne, P. E., passed away Sunday, March 11. His many contributions to our industry and the people who work in it will be missed. Here is the obituary:

John F.X. Browne (December 1935 March 2012) died peacefully at his home in Bloomfield Hills after a brief battle with cancer. John was born and raised on Long Island, NY and moved to the Detroit area to attend the University of Detroit where is obtained a Bachelors of Science degree in both Physics and Mathematics. John went on to become a professional engineer and the founder and president of John F.X. Browne & Associates in Bloomfield Hills where he serviced the broadcast industry for 45 years.

John was the eldest son of Marie Mulcahy Browne and John Browne and the devoted brother to three sisters Patsy Reisert, Mary Ellen Curnyn, Terry Logan of Long Island, NY. He was the beloved husband to Kay Mullen Browne
for 32 years. John married Kay (widowed in 1978) and became a father to her six children between the ages of 11 and 21. He was called both a saint and a nut; and let’s face facts, proposing to woman with six children took an awful lot of courage but that is how he lived his life. And that is how he lived his last few weeks of life, courageously, faithfully, lovingly and brave to the very end.

John will be forever remembered by his caring children and their spouses, Mary Beth Reed (Brian), John Mullen (Cheryl), Meg Noble (Bill), Katie Nienstedt (Bill), Tom Mullen (Jerry) and Jane Fletcher (Greg) as well as his
treasured grandchildren, Erin, Colleen, Moira, Allison, Johnny, Mary Kate, Casey, Clare, Billy, Cece, Jack and Tommy along with countless other friends and family whom were blessed to know him.

John’s first love was flight. His joy at being a pilot lasted a lifetime. What started as something fun to do at 23 turned into a life of flying high with his friends and family on board his Piper Aztec. From small hops for  business to world renowned, record setting trips around the world, John was  one of the quintessential quiet birdmen. Not only was John inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame, he was also the recipient of twenty-two National Aeronautic Association records for speed and distance flying in his small plane.

John was also a dedicated member of the American Association of the Knights of Malta, the Cardinal Club of Detroit, President and founding member of Everest Academy in Clarkston, MI, a board member at Rose Hill Center, and President of Michigan Catholic Radio. Among his many professional affiliations, John was made a Fellow of the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers; he was selected as the Outstanding Engineer in Private Practice by
the Michigan Society of Professional Engineers; and was the second recipient ever of the prestigious Carl E. Lee Broadcast Engineering Excellence Award by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters.

John touched the lives of many people with his quiet smile and generosity, and maintained his trademark sense of humor all the way to the end.

Beloved husband of Katherine “Kay” (formerly Mullen). Dear father of Mary Beth Reed (Brian), John Mullen (Cheryl), Meg Noble (Bill), Katie Nienstedt (Bill), Tom Mullen (Jerry Stevens) and Jane Fletcher (Greg). Grandfather of
Casey, Allison, Johnny, Mary Kate, Clare, Billy, Cecile, Jack, Tommy, Erin, Colleen and Moira. Brother of Patsy Reisert (Bob), Mary Ellen Curnyn and Terry Logan (Don).

Family will receive friends at A.J. Desmond & Sons (Vasu, Rodgers & Connell Chapel), 32515 Woodward (btwn 13-14 Mile), Wednesday, 2:00-9:00pm. Prayers 7:00pm. Funeral Mass Thursday 11:00am at St. Hugo of the Hills Church, 2215 Opdyke Rd., Bloomfield Hills. Visitation at church begins 10:00am.

Memorial tributes to Missionary Sisters of Charity, 1917 Cabot St., Detroit, MI 48209 or Legionaries of Christ, 2460 Opdyke Rd., Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304 or Ladies of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, 2215 Opdyke Rd., Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304.

Every year at this time we ask for a few good folks to be on the section Managers board.

We need candidates for three board positions, Secretary-Treasurer, and also Chair.

I do not intend to continue in this capacity beyond June, so some “new blood” is needed to fill this and the above slots. Please overwhelm me with responses  Use the Contact link at right to get in touch. Thanks!

Chuck Reti, section chair

MPA

On Thursday, February 16, Michigan Production Alliance and Fletcher Camera are presenting a program on new generation camera technology using large scale “full size” imagers. This should be of very great interest to many of our members. Please note that there is an admission charge for this event- $10 advance, $15 door. See MPA meeting notice and registration information on MPA’s website.

As of this date no other technical program is known to be available to Detroit SMPTE for February. If you have a topic on which you could share your knowledge, or could at least host an early evening social / networking meeting for this month at your facility, please let me know. I understand that many would prefer a get-together of this nature over a restaurant “dinner” gathering.

GLBC

The Michigan Association of Broadcasters Great Lakes Broadcast Expo is coming up on Wednesday, March 14. GLBC has generously given SMPTE free exhibit space.

Chris Hill has again volunteered to man the SMPTE information booth.

If you are attending the Expo, stop by Booth #6 and say hello. Better yet, please also “spell” Chris for a bit!

Chuck Reti, section chair

• Date: Tuesday, December 13, 2011, 7:30 PM
• Location: The Art Institute of Michigan, 28125 Cabot Dr., Novi
• Topic: The Impact of Change on the Media Business
• Guest speaker: Mark Sherrod, Dean of Academic Affairs, The Art Institute of Michigan

Our December meeting will be held on our regular day and time, Tuesday, December 13 at 7:30 PM at the Art Institute of Michigan in Novi, where we will have an open discussion about the state of the local broadcast and production industry and the effect of recent changes on our members and colleagues, and how our group might be able to be helpful to the community in education and networking. The AIM will be embarking on instructional programs on audio and animation, and Mark Sherrod, the school’s Dean of Academic Affairs, will speak to us about this, and hear our group’s take on the industry.

The Detroit Section Managers have recently met to discuss how to keep our group alive and relevant. We will present some items for your consideration, discussion and input.

Thanks to The Art Institute of Michigan and Dave Wertheimer for location and refreshments.

Managers’ Dinner at 6:00 PM at Leo’s Coney Island, 37580 West 12 Mile Rd., Farmington Hills (Halsted Village shopping center, Halsted & 12 Mile). Separate checks. All are welcome.

Are you ready for the National EAS test on Nov 9^th?  Doubtless, you have at least a few unanswered questions regarding this nationwide effort to improve the reach and reliability of the national alerting system.

Please join us next Wednesday night, October 26^th, at the studios of WKBD and WWJ-TV in Southfield for a presentation by state EAS chairman Larry Estlack and WJR chief engineer Kevin Hawley as they brief us on the latest developments and wrinkles with the state, national, and southeast Michigan EAS scene. There are some known issues with a number of the EAS endecs currently in production by the leading manufacturers. Some of these are set up issues, others are software issues that could lead to an unsuccessful test. We’ll discuss the ones they know about and your experiences with your gear should help give us all a better picture of where the problems are and what can be done about them. There should be a good sized brain-trust present. Please be part of it!

The meeting time is 7:30P, but we’ll have some pizza and pop at 6:30P. Come and renew acquaintances, talk shop, or just talk with friends, then learn more of the details of EAS 2011. We need to do this right to help retain our value for emergency communications in the public’s eye. A little effort now should help mitigate avoidable screw-ups on Nov 9^th.

The studios are located at 26905 W. 11 Mile Road in Southfield between Inkster and Franklin roads. Parking will be in the rear of the studio building (the one on your left as you come down the driveway).

Please R.S.V.P. to Jim Totten at jmtotten@cbs.com so we can get an idea of how much food and beverage to purchase. Thanks.

See you there!

Our September meeting is on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 7:00 PM and is a joint meeting with SEMAFX (Detroit ACM-SIGGRAPH). The host is Expert Electronics Showplace, 17100 Kercheval (at St. Clair, 2 blocks east of Cadieux), Grosse Pointe, MI 48230, and the topic is “Old School” computer graphics systems, cards, software and hardware.

SEMAFX, the Detroit chapter of ACM-SIGGRAPH, has invited SMPTE Detroit members to join them at their upcoming meeting. Apologies for the very short notice; this came about quite recently. Many of us have had the “pleasure” in past years of installing or working with early computer graphics, animation and CGI systems, video graphics and display cards. If the words Targa, RasterOps, NuBus, Truevision, NuVista, Amiga, etc bring on a chill or other reaction, you might find this program fun.

From Scott Dunham’s notice to SEMAFX:

Come join me as we keep the SEMAFX flame burning bright! School is back in session, and so is SEMAFX. Our goals remain unchanged- to form a casual, yet professional league of talented artists who want to explore the technology, the tips and the boundaries of our own abilities. And by working together, create opportunities for our community and our Craft. The “theme” if you want to call it that, is “Old Guys” Night! (Old gals are invited too, but sadly, we were mostly a guy-industry in those days… sigh. Anyway, it’s not much of a theme, I know. But I’d LOVE to see all my old veteran buddies who have been in the animation, graphics and showbiz biz since the early days! If you’ve heard of a Truevision Targa graphics board, Summagraphic tablets, Amiga II’s, sprites or CosA, then you’re probably an “old guy!” If you were ever impressed by the speed of a 486x processor… yep, you guessed it- OLD! And if you’re YOUNG- then come hang out with us Old Guys and listen to our war stories, along with some cool ideas, latest gossip and other fun stuff. SEMAFX is fun, dangit! So come ready to have fun. We will be meeting on Tuesday night, Sept. 20th, at 7pm, at the Expert Electronics Showplace, in Grosse Pointe Village, at 17100 Kercheval. Look for the Expert Electronics awning – and we’ll be down the stairs (under the TN Thai Bistro on the corner). Parking on the street or in the ramp across the street on St. Clair (might be metered or paid parking). BYOB. Volunteers needed to bring some “snacks”. Also bring any DVD’s or demos you want to share.

Because of location and start time, we will not do a pre meeting dinner. There are, however a number of places in “the Village,” on the adjacent 2 blocks, for early arrivals to grab a bite beforehand.

Our June section meeting will be a “shootout” of two mid-range studio/handheld HD cameras. It’s hosted by CBS Television (WKBD & WWJ-TV), 26905 West 11 Mile Road in Southfield. Note the day and date: Wednesday, June 15 at our usual time, 7:30 pm.

Sony will be bringing the HXC-100K and Ikegami will bring their HDK-77EC/CT. Each has a 1920×1080 2/3 inch sensor and is capable of handheld or fixed operation. They will be configured for triax studio use with mid-range lenses, viewfinders and control panels.

This will be a joint meeting with our colleagues in SBE Chapter 82. Members and guests of both organization are welcome; there is no charge, and please invite your co-workers and anyone interested.

Manager’s dinner will be at 5:30 at Buddy’s Rendezvous, 31646 Northwestern Highway at Middlebelt in Farmington Hills. Cash bar; food check divided equally among all diners.  All are welcome. If you plan on coming, send us a message.

Congratulations to newly elected and re-elected section officers:

Detroit Section election of officers is now underway. Members will be receiving instructions via e-mail. Be sure to cast your ballot online by May 15.

SMPTE is conducting four regional seminars in May on practical steps in implementing a file-based workflow. The seminar will cover the steps, challenges, and success in transitioning a traditional broadcast facility to one with a file-based workflow. Nearest to us is Toronto on May 14. Registration is $199 for SMPTE members and only $59 for students.