San Diego Municipal Code Div. 1 Cable Television System Operating Rules and Regulations

(“Cable Television System Operating Rules and Regulations” added 7–7–1970 by O–10335 N.S.)

This division may be cited as the San Diego Cable Television System Operating Rules and Regulations Ordinance. (Amended 4–6–1981 by O–15480 N.S.)

This division shall be construed liberally in order to effectuate its purposes. Unless otherwise specifically prescribed in this division the following provisions shall govern its interpretation and construction:

(a) When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense
include the future, words in the plural number include the singular number,
and words in the singular number include the plural number.

(b) Time is of the essence in this division. No franchise holder or owner shall be
relieved of his obligation to comply promptly with any provision of this
article by any failure of City to enforce prompt compliance with any of its
provisions.

(c) Any right or power conferred, or duty imposed upon any officer, employee,
department or board of City is subject to transfer by operation of law to any
other officer, employee, department or board of City.

(d) No franchise holder or owner shall have any recourse whatsoever against City
for any loss, cost, expense or damage arising out of any provision or
requirement of this division or the enforcement thereof.

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(e) This division does not relieve any franchise holder or owner of any
requirement of the City Charter or of any ordinance, rule, regulation or
specification of City.
(“Rules of Construction” added 7–7–1970 by O–10335 N.S.)

The purpose and intent of this division is to assure that residents of the City of San Diego who subscribe to the service of a cable television system which has been granted a franchise by the city shall receive television signals without degradation within the limitations imposed by the state of the art. These standards shall apply to all channels carried on a cable system. (Amended 4–6–1981 by O–15480 N.S.)

Whenever used in this division the following words or phrases shall mean:

(a) “City” shall mean The City of San Diego, a municipal corporation in the State
of California.

(b) “Council” shall mean the City Council of City.

(c) “City Manager” shall mean the City Manager of City as that office is defined
in Section 27 of the City Charter and any officer or employee of City
appointed by the City Manager to act for him.

(d) “Cable Television System” shall mean a system of antennas, cables, wires,
lines, towers, wave guides, or any other conductors, converters, equipment or
facilities, designed and constructed for the purpose of producing, receiving,
amplifying and distributing, audio, video and other forms of electronic or
electrical signals, located in the City as delineated in each franchisee’s
ordinance.

(e) “FCC” shall mean the Federal Communications Commission.

(f) “Franchise” shall mean the right and authority granted by an ordinance of City
to construct, maintain and operate through use of public streets, or other
public rights of way or public places in City.

(g) “Grantee” shall mean the person to whom the franchise is granted by an
ordinance of City and any lawful successor or assignee of the original grantee.

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(h) “Local Station” shall mean a television broadcaster maintaining its main
studio in City or operating a transmitter in City or within 10 miles of City’s
limits.

(i) “Subscriber” shall mean any person or entity receiving for any purpose the
Cable Television System service of grantee.

(j) Technical abbreviations shall have the meanings as described in “The Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Standard No. 198, Radio–Electronic
Terms, abbreviations of.”

(k) Technical Definitions.

(1) “Signal Level, or Visual Carrier Level.” The peak voltage of a radio
frequency carrier wave, modulated with FCC standard composite TV
signal, measured during the synchronizing interval.

(2) “dBmV.” The unit of signal or noise level referred to one millivolt
across 75 ohms. (0 dBmV equals 1000 microvolts across 75 ohms.)

(3) “Noise Level.” The root–mean–square voltage of noise level due to modulation processes, thermal or other noise providing effects but does not include hum and other undesired signals of discrete frequency. The noise is measured in the 4.0 MHz bandwidth between 1.25 and 5.25 MHz above the lower channel boundary of a cable television channel.

(4) “Signal (or carrier) to noise ratio.” The difference in dB between
signal level and noise level on the same channel.

(5) “Cross–Modulation.” The transfer of modulation from one channel to
another.

(6) “Hum Modulation Ratio.” The ratio between the peak–to–peak ripple
at 60 or 120 Hz on an otherwise unmodulated carrier, to the peak
carrier level.

(7) “Spurious Signals.” Any discrete frequency occurring within the
channel boundaries which is not a desired carrier, subcarrier, or
sideband.
(Amended 4–6–1981 by O–15480 N.S.)

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(a) Local Service Office. Each franchisee shall maintain an office within the City of San Diego which shall have a local telephone number listed in the directory of The Pacific Telephone Company, and be operated so that all manner of subscriber inquiries may be handled during regular offices hours, and that repair calls may be received at any time. An office shall be open during reasonable business hours and for at least four (4) hours per week of extended operation either on weekday evenings after 5 p.m., or on weekends, to be scheduled at the discretion of the franchisee.

(b) The grantee shall provide to each subscriber written notice of the procedures
for reporting and resolving complaints at the time of the initial subscription to
the cable system and at any other time the grantee makes a change in his
office location, his telephones or his complaint procedures. Present
subscribers shall be so notified within 90 days of the adoption of this
ordinance.

(c) If a subscriber or prospective subscriber is unable to obtain satisfaction from
the grantee in the resolution of a problem or in the initiating of service, he
may file a written complaint with the City Manager of The City of San Diego,
202 “C” Street, 92101. The letter should include the complainant’s name,
address and telephone number, the name of the cable television system
involved, the nature of the problem and a chronological history of his and the
company’s actions relative to the complaint. Upon receipt of such a written
complaint the City Manager shall take such action as is reasonably necessary
to investigate and resolve the circumstances surrounding the complaint.

(d) Carriage of Local Stations. All local stations carried on a Cable Television
System shall have as high a picture quality as any other station carried on the
Cable Television System. However, a Cable Television System franchise
grantee shall not be required to upgrade the quality of the off–the–air signal
received to comply with this section.

(e) All programming carried on a cable television system including Los Angeles
or any other distant station shall be maintained in a manner that fully complies
with the provisions of this ordinance. Any change made by grantee in its
programming, except those of an emergency nature beyond grantee’s control,
which involves channel carriage including, but not necessarily limited to,
additions, deletions or changes in channel assignment shall not become
effective until grantee has notified its subscribers at least fourteen (14) days in
advance. Notification may be made in writing or by notices on the cable
system.

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(f) System Maps and Layout. The grantee shall have at all times up–to–date route
maps of suitable scale showing all receiving pickup locations and the location
of all amplifiers and trunk and distribution lines. Lines to individual outlets
need not be shown. The scale of the maps shall be sufficient to clearly show
the required details, and in no event less than 1 inch = 400 feet.

(g) System Construction Standards. The system shall be installed and maintained
in accordance with standard good engineering practices and shall conform
when applicable with the National Electrical Safety Code, Bureau of
Standards Handbook No. 130, Rules for Overhead Line Construction (General
Order No. 95) and Rules for Construction of Underground Communications
Systems (General Order No. 128) of the California Public Utilities
Commission, the California Administrative Code, Title 24, Part 3, The City of
San Diego Municipal Code, and any other governmental agency standards or
codes which are adopted in the future which directly or indirectly apply to
cable television system construction standards.

(h) Grounding. Trunk, distribution, and customer drops shall be properly
grounded, but in no case less than the first and every tenth pole plus each
power location. Each ground shall consist of a minimum of 8’ ground rod
connected with No. 8 copper wire or equivalent.

(i) Power Supply r.f. Attenuation. Each cable powering point shall be equipped with appropriate lightning protective devices, and shall provide not less than 40 dB r.f. attenuation over the frequency range of 5 to 300 MHz.

(j) Shielding. Shielding shall be such as to restrict radiation as prescribed in
Section 76.0605(a) (12) of the FCC Rules and Regulations.
(Amended 1–17–1984 by O–16114 N.S.)

(a) Head–End. Upon completion of construction or major modification or within sixty days from the date of adoption of this article, the following performance data shall be collected at the head–end using appropriate test signals consistent with the state of the art inserted at the antenna input terminals, and measured at the interface between the single channel equipment output and the channel combining networks. Tower mounted transmission lines, filters, preamplifiers and UHF/VHF converters are excluded from the following tests: However, where possible, transmitted vertical interval test signals should be observed to indicate whether excluded tower equipment substantially meets performance standards.

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(1) Video carrier to noise.

(2) Multiburst frequency response.

(3) Differential phase.

(4) Differential gain.

(5) Magnitude and frequency of spurious signals.

(b) A copy of the annual measurements and report required by the FCC shall be
provided to the City.

(c) Trunk Monitor Check Points. The franchisee shall designate trunk monitor
points strategically located in the distribution plant. The total number of trunk
route miles divided by the number of designated monitor check points shall
not exceed 20. Such monitor check points shall be subject to approval by the
City Manager.

The following data shall be collected and recorded at each trunk monitor
check point no fewer than once per month:

(1) Visual and aural carrier levels on all channels.

(2) Video carrier to noise ratio on all channels (measured without
interrupting service).

(3) Visual inspection of pictures on all channels for visible distortion
produced within the cable system.

(d) Repetition of Tests. If the City Manager deems it necessary to assure
distribution of TV signals without material degradation, he may from time to
time request a franchise grantee to repeat part or all of the performance tests
specified above, as appropriate.

(e) Retention of Test Data. All performance test results, as well as complaint reports hereinafter specified shall be kept on file by the franchisee for a period of at least twelve months. All such files shall be open for inspection at reasonable times by City Manager. (Amended 4–6–1981 by O–15480 N.S.)

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(a) The visual signal level across a terminating impedance which correctly matches the internal impedance of the cable system as viewed from the subscriber terminals shall be not less than the following appropriate values:

Internal Impedance Visual Signal Level
75 ohms 1 millivolt
300 ohms 2 millivolts

(At other impedance values, the minimum visual signal level shall be the
square root of 0.0133 z millivolts, where Z is the appropriate impedance
value.)

(b) The visual signal level on each channel shall not vary more than 12 dB within
any 24 hour period and shall be maintained within:

(1) 3 dB of the visual signal level within 6 MHZ nominal frequency
separation, and;

(2) 9 dB of the visual signal level on any other channel, and;

(3) A maximum level such that signal degradation due to overload in the
subscriber’s receiver does not occur.

(c) The peak voltage of the aural signal on Class I standard broadcast signals
shall be maintained between 13 and 17 dB below the associated visual level.
On pay service channels with scrambling devices the aural signal may be 10
dB below the visual signal level.

(d) The ratio of visual signal level to system noise shall be not less than 36 dB.

(e) Cross modulation ratio on any channel shall not exceed –50 dB. There shall
be no visible cross–modulation products produced on any channel carried by
the Cable Television System.

(f) Multiburst frequency response of single channel equipment for head–end shall
conform with the following:

White Level OdB Reference

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*Not more than 4dB below the level of the 3.58 MHz burst.

(g) Because there is no FCC tolerance on transfer linearity, single channel
equipment should be adjusted for the best practicable performance. In no case,
however, shall system differential phase exceed 5 degrees, nor shall
differential gain exceed 2 dB.

(h) Spurious frequencies in any channel shall be attenuated at least 46 dB below
visual carrier level as defined in Section 73.0104, paragraph (k), unless it can
be shown that a particular spurious frequency at higher level is not perceptible
on a commercial TV set.

(i) Incidental radiation shall conform with FCC specifications, Section 76.605 (a)
(12).

(j) The peak to peak variation in visual signal level caused by undesired low
frequency disturbance (hum or repetitive transients) generated within the
system, or by inadequate low frequency response shall not exceed –3% of the
visual signal level.

(k) The channel frequency response shall be within the range of + or –2 decibels
for all frequencies within –1 MHZ and +4 MHZ of the visual carrier
frequency.

(l) Direct pick–up causing leading ghosts or blanking bars or co–channel
interference, shall not be visible on a thoroughly shielded test receiver
connected to any service drop. Ghosts, unwanted signals, ringing, or
reflections of any sort shall be either eliminated or minimized, subject to the
limitations imposed by the technical state of the art. The design, construction,
and operation of the entire Cable Television System from antenna to service
drops and baluns shall be such as to minimize all such reflections and stray
pickup.

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(m) Cable Television systems shall conform to all applicable FCC Rules and
Regulations. Should the FCC at some future date relinquish regulation of
cable television systems, the City shall retain the same FCC technical
standards and regulations under this ordinance as applicable.
(Amended 4–6–1981 by O–15480 N.S.)

(a) Signal level measurements shall be made with a properly adjusted and calibrated selective r.f. voltmeter or signal level meter or spectrum analyzer.

(b) System noise may be measured using a frequency–selective voltmeter (field
strength meter) which has been suitably calibrated to indicate rms noise or
average power level, and which has a known bandwidth. An oscilloscope
should be connected to the video output of the field strength meter to insure
that any peaks that may be noted are not caused by a spurious frequency or
cross modulation interference problem. With the system operating at normal
levels and with a properly matched resistive termination substituted for the
antenna, noise power indications at the subscriber terminal are taken in
successive increments of frequency equal to the bandwidth of the frequency-
selective voltmeter, summing the power indications to obtain the total noise
power present over a 4.0 MHz band centered within the cable television
channel. If it is established that the noise level is constant within this
bandwidth, a single measurement may be taken which is corrected by an
appropriate factor representing the ratio of 4.0 MHz to the noise bandwidth of
the frequency selective voltmeter. If an amplifier is inserted between the
frequency–selective voltmeter and the subscriber terminal in order to facilitate
this measurement, it should have a bandwidth of at least 4.0 MHz and
appropriate corrections must be made to account for its gain and noise figures.
Alternatively, measurements made in accordance with the NCTA standard on
noise measurement (NCTA Standard 005–0669) may be employed.

(c) When deemed necessary by the City Manager, cross modulation shall be
measured as follows:

Method 1. A block diagram of the setup for this test is on file in the office of
the City Clerk as Document No. 732488. Normal picture and sound input
signals (including FM signals where carried) are supplied to each channel to
be carried except the channel under observation; a CW signal is supplied to
the viewing channel at white level. No cross–modulation products

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(“wind-shield-wiper” effects) should be visible on a monitor receiver located at an appropriate test drop, at an ambient temperature of 32 degrees Fahrenheit or above.

(d) Spurious signals may be detected and identified with a spectrum analyzer or
other suitable instruments.
(Amended 4–6–1981 by O–15480 N.S.)

(a) The grantee shall keep a record of all complaints from subscribers. The record shall identify the subscriber and his address, the location and date of the complaint, and a technician’s report on the disposition of the complaint including the following items, as applicable.

(1) Carrier levels at the service drop terminal.

(2) Carrier levels and carrier to noise ratio at the customer’s receiving
outlet. (Note: since interruption of service to other customers must be
avoided, it is recognized these noise measurements may not be entirely
accurate.)

(3) If the complaint is caused by defects in customer’s TV set, including
inadequate shielding or grounding, explain.

(4) If the complaint involves direct pick–up, describe tests to determine
whether there is leakage into the cable system. A code reference to the
test procedure used is acceptable if the procedure instruction is on file
in the cable television office records and the City Communications and
Electrical Division’s records.

(5) Make and model and effectiveness of the antenna switch installed, if
any.

(6) If the complaint involves visible crosshatch or herringbone
interference, describe fully, including probable causes and corrective
steps. (Note: such interference also may be present on signals received
directly without cable.)

(7) Visual check for cross–modulation (without interrupting service to
customers.)

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(8) Check for problems originating at the head–end.

(9) Other relevant remarks, including corrective action taken.

(b) Upon request of the City Manager, grantee shall, within ten (10) days after
receiving such request, send a written report to Manager with respect to any
complaint. Such report shall provide a full explanation of the investigation,
findings, and corrective steps taken. When the complaint concerns technical
performance, such report shall include the items in subsection (a) of Section
73.0109, as applicable.

(c) The grantee shall acknowledge complainants’ requests for repair or
adjustments promptly, but in no event longer than 16 hours after notice.

(d) The grantee shall commence all repairs and adjustments within 72 hours after notice and complete all repairs or adjustments promptly, but in no event longer than 7 days after notice, except for unavoidable delays, without fault and beyond control of the grantee (financial inability excepted).

(e) The grantee shall limit failure to a minimum by locating and correcting
malfunctions promptly, but in no event longer than 24 hours after notice,
except for unavoidable delays, without fault and beyond control of the grantee
(financial inability excepted).
(Amended 1–17–1984 by O–16114 N.S.)

(a) Cable Television Systems franchise holder shall provide the City Communications and Electrical Division with copies of the following documents:

(1) Data taken in accordance with the monthly Cable Television
Performance Report.

(2) “Annual Report of Cable Television Systems” (FCC Form 325) shall
be submitted after filing same in accordance with FCC Rules and
Regulations, Part 76, Subpart 1, Paragraph 76.403.

(3) Any other reports submitted to other regulatory agencies related to the
performance of the Cable Television System.
(“Data Forms and Reports” added 4–6–1981 by O–15480 N.S.)

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If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this article is for any reason held to be invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this article. The Council hereby declares that it would have adopted the article and each section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid. (Renumbered from Section 73.0110 on 4–6–1981 by O–15480 N.S.)

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Chapter 7

Public Utilities and Transportation

Article 3: Cable Television