He makes sure no one gets their signals crossed
Super Scene: What's going on off the field this week in Tampa
Thursday, January 29, 2009
By Teresa Lindeman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
TAMPA, Fla. -- If Ben Roethlisberger gets his radio frequency signals straight Sunday, thank the 45 people of the NFL's frequency organization group.
Those were the people running one of the final checkpoints on Super Bowl media day earlier this week, after hundreds of credentialed media staff had already walked through scanners, passed the bomb-sniffing dog and had their bags examined.
"RF gear to the right," barked out Jay Gerber, manager of the frequency organization group that has been working every Super Bowl for more than a decade to try to keep the various organizations that use the technology from getting their wireless signals crossed.
It may not sound like a big deal, but as technology advances, everyone from safety officials to TV crews to, yes, the team quarterbacks have begun using radio frequencies to communicate. At an event like the Super Bowl, the concentration of equipment in use could mean that a security guard can't call for backup or the Steelers' quarterback doesn't hear the play.
"Every frequency is like a highway in the sky," explained Gerber, as he stood watching closely to keep any unregistered equipment from making it past his people unchecked. "There are many, many more cars to go in the highway than can go," he said.
On game day, the RF team may handle more than 5,000 requests to use at least 11,000 different radio frequency devices on 2,000 frequencies.
In addition to the media day set-up, the frequency organization group has had similar stations set up at the media center at the Tampa convention center.
But it doesn't stop there. "We coordinate the whole city," said Gerber, a former vice president of operations for NFL Films who retired a decade ago and lives outside of Warrington, Pa., in Bucks County. By the whole city, he means police and emergency services among other things.
Twenty years ago, there wouldn't have been a need for such an effort because radio frequency wasn't used by so many groups. Gerber said when he first suggested to NFL officials that they should set up something, they weren't convinced.
"They were rebellious," he said. "They said, 'No, we don't need it.' "
Then they got complaints from organizations whose equipment had issues. Super Bowl XXX in Arizona was the first that had some coordination. Gerber said the group had three people, including himself and he was just part-time since he was also working on other services.
Now, there seems no question that the matter is taken seriously. Official signs at the media center read, "Use of wireless equipment is prohibited unless previously coordinated with NFL Frequency Coordination Group located at each media center entrance."
Crews checking the RF equipment look rather like ham radio operators, looking at small black and green screens with wavy lines that spike on the frequency where a particular device is tuned.
To keep the frequency highways flowing, the crews assign each device to a certain spot on the dial. Equipment is tagged in a way that makes it obvious when and where it is allowed to be used. Some things are limited to certain time slots, which is how the group can fill so many requests.
Transgressions are taken seriously. Equipment is set up at the media center and at events, including the Super Bowl, to quickly identify rule breakers. Those caught playing outside of their approved frequencies can lose their credentials to cover the game.
"It just takes one errant signal to create an awful lot of problems," said Gerber.
So, tagged and checked, the media members moved past the Frequency Coordination Group's gauntlet on Tuesday almost free to head on in and interview the teams.
There was, however, one final security review -- a much more old-fashioned one: Everyone got frisked.
First published on January 29, 2009 at 12:00 am
Super Scene: What's going on off the field this week in Tampa
Thursday, January 29, 2009
By Teresa Lindeman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
TAMPA, Fla. -- If Ben Roethlisberger gets his radio frequency signals straight Sunday, thank the 45 people of the NFL's frequency organization group.
Those were the people running one of the final checkpoints on Super Bowl media day earlier this week, after hundreds of credentialed media staff had already walked through scanners, passed the bomb-sniffing dog and had their bags examined.
"RF gear to the right," barked out Jay Gerber, manager of the frequency organization group that has been working every Super Bowl for more than a decade to try to keep the various organizations that use the technology from getting their wireless signals crossed.
It may not sound like a big deal, but as technology advances, everyone from safety officials to TV crews to, yes, the team quarterbacks have begun using radio frequencies to communicate. At an event like the Super Bowl, the concentration of equipment in use could mean that a security guard can't call for backup or the Steelers' quarterback doesn't hear the play.
"Every frequency is like a highway in the sky," explained Gerber, as he stood watching closely to keep any unregistered equipment from making it past his people unchecked. "There are many, many more cars to go in the highway than can go," he said.
On game day, the RF team may handle more than 5,000 requests to use at least 11,000 different radio frequency devices on 2,000 frequencies.
In addition to the media day set-up, the frequency organization group has had similar stations set up at the media center at the Tampa convention center.
But it doesn't stop there. "We coordinate the whole city," said Gerber, a former vice president of operations for NFL Films who retired a decade ago and lives outside of Warrington, Pa., in Bucks County. By the whole city, he means police and emergency services among other things.
Twenty years ago, there wouldn't have been a need for such an effort because radio frequency wasn't used by so many groups. Gerber said when he first suggested to NFL officials that they should set up something, they weren't convinced.
"They were rebellious," he said. "They said, 'No, we don't need it.' "
Then they got complaints from organizations whose equipment had issues. Super Bowl XXX in Arizona was the first that had some coordination. Gerber said the group had three people, including himself and he was just part-time since he was also working on other services.
Now, there seems no question that the matter is taken seriously. Official signs at the media center read, "Use of wireless equipment is prohibited unless previously coordinated with NFL Frequency Coordination Group located at each media center entrance."
Crews checking the RF equipment look rather like ham radio operators, looking at small black and green screens with wavy lines that spike on the frequency where a particular device is tuned.
To keep the frequency highways flowing, the crews assign each device to a certain spot on the dial. Equipment is tagged in a way that makes it obvious when and where it is allowed to be used. Some things are limited to certain time slots, which is how the group can fill so many requests.
Transgressions are taken seriously. Equipment is set up at the media center and at events, including the Super Bowl, to quickly identify rule breakers. Those caught playing outside of their approved frequencies can lose their credentials to cover the game.
"It just takes one errant signal to create an awful lot of problems," said Gerber.
So, tagged and checked, the media members moved past the Frequency Coordination Group's gauntlet on Tuesday almost free to head on in and interview the teams.
There was, however, one final security review -- a much more old-fashioned one: Everyone got frisked.
First published on January 29, 2009 at 12:00 am
