Teleconferencing Project Correspondence

Monday August 4, 1997

 

TO: County Superintendents, Chief Business Officials and FCMAT County Contact Persons

FROM: Bill Luehe
FCMAT Director, Professional Development

SUBJECT: Change in the FCMAT Inaugural Teleconferencing Broadcast Date

Due to a number of factors, it has become necessary to reschedule the FCMAT Inaugural Teleconferencing Broadcast date which was scheduled for September 16, 1997.

Two major reasons for this are:

1. Because of the many features that each down link unit has (analog, digital, KU and C band, as well as being steerable) it is necessary to custom build the receiving equipment. There has been a delay in receiving various components needed for the down link equipment. The satellite installers will not begin the installation work until they have all the necessary components in hand.

2. The equipment and installation bids were based on a ground mount installation. In some locations and for various reasons, ground mounts are not possible. As a result, additional time is needed to deal with these sites on an individual basis.

The sites that need a roof mount are working with adding an additional 7,660 pounds (approximately) to their roofs in order to deal safely with winds up to 80 mph. As you can guess, this factor presents a number of complications that must be dealt with. Keep in mind that the Teleconferencing Project is structured to provide ground mounted equipment and will cover the cost of this type of installation. Costs in excess of the ground mount type of installation will have to be picked up by the receiving agency. Because of these factors and others, many COEs have changed their roof mount request that they gave the survey crew to a ground mount. Wherever possible, FCMAT strongly encourages use of ground mounts.

A number of satellite dishes have already been delivered. In storing your dish in anticipation of its installation, please be sure to store the dish face down. The installation crews will be coming from Louisiana and will be working on a tight schedule. There will be six crews working across the state with approximately two days allocated per site. You will be contacted prior to their arrival. Anything that you can do to be prepared for their installation visit (such as have any required permits, clear any CC&Rs, etc.) will be appreciated.

As FCMAT receives assurance regarding the completion date for the installation of the down link equipment, a new date will be set for our inaugural broadcast. I apologize for the inconvenience that this date change has caused. Everyone associated with the FCMAT Teleconferencing Project and the Inaugural Broadcast is proceeding as rapidly as possible.

If you have any questions or need further information, please call 805-636-4692 or you can access the FCMAT Web Site at http://www.kern.org/fcmat/profdev/teleconf.html for background information and updates.

In the next few days, we will be getting information to you regarding the equipment rack that you will be receiving as part of your downlink package. At the same time that we mail that information to you, we will also put it on the FCMAT Web Site.

Thanks for your patience and assistance. We will keep you updated regarding the project's progress.

 

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