Editor's note: This is one of a series of stories that focuses on the everyday lives of area residents. If you have a suggestion for a feature on someone you know, let us know via e-mail to leadertimes@tribweb.com.
One thing Chris Smith likes about his work day is that it starts when most people are just finishing lunch, around 1 p.m.
Smith, a computer technician and audio engineer for Family Life TV, a privately owned Christian cable television station in Kittanning, is often the "man behind the scene" when he directs television cameras or manipulates a sound system. He is the most "unseen" person at such events as Kittanning borough council meetings, Kittanning High School hockey games and many community events.
Smith often starts his work day by reporting for duty at Family Life TV headquarters at 114 S. Jefferson St. Although he will do the bulk of his work later in the evening, he is kept busy checking out, realigning and if necessary, "debugging" the station's computer systems and Web site.
"We have to make sure no one has hacked into the Web site," Smith said. "That's something that does happen once in a while and we have to be on top of it."
Speaking of staying "on top" of things, Smith was recently on top of the roof of Family life TV and the bell tower of St. John's Lutheran Church in Kittanning. Despite some adverse weather in February, Smith was making roof top installations of Family Life's new microwave equipment to enable the church to transmit its Sunday services live, directly to Family Life TV's master control room for immediate broadcast to the station's estimated 28,000 viewers.
In November of 2007 Family Life installed a microwave system on the roof of the station's building to receive direct, live broadcasts from various points in the county. The system enabled the station to transmit for the first time a live broadcast of Ford City's annual Lightup Night, via a microwave transmission. Smith said microwave systems operate only by line-of-sight, therefore the television crew had to set up a mobile relay station in a van parked near the National Guard building on Valley View Drive.
"I guess I have multiple titles at Family Life," Smith said. "I was assigned the task of installing and maintaining the microwave system. So part of my work day now includes that too. Other churches are looking at microwave transmission possibilities so I may be doing more installations. We also have hardline drives in various places, Kittanning borough municipal building, downtown Kittanning, the courthouse and Riverfront Park.
"We have two television crews working on the first Monday of the month. One covers Kittanning Council and the other Ford City Council meetings. I'm always at the Kittanning meeting, and I always do the audio."
When he's not monitoring the computer system for Family Life, Smith has his own computer maintenance business which he operates on the side, geared mainly to systems set up in professional offices.
"I enjoy working with computers," he said. "I also enjoy writing programs. Some friends and I are developing what we hope will be an online strategy game available by subscription only. Right now it looks good, but there are a few little bugs to work out, so I spend part of my time with that too.
Another great part of his job is that it allows him to enjoy a different sort of day on most weekends, a decided change of pace from television monitors, sound systems and computers. Smith is an avid dirt bike rider and on most weekends when there aren't piles of snow to contend with, he may be found zipping up hills that would make a billy goat turn green, and coming back down at "exhilarating" speeds.
"It's a good way to let out a lot of pent-up frustration and tension," he said. "I really love dirt biking. I don't have a bike right now but I borrow my cousin's Yamaha.
Weekend evenings are the time for Smith to once again man a sound system , but this time with a considerably louder and much more lively agenda. Smith is the sound technician and rhythm guitar player for the band Rock-A-Billy Junction, which performs throughout a three or four-county area almost every weekend.
"It's another way to cut loose and do something different," he said. "We all really throw ourselves into our music and I think our fans sense this and get into it as well. We have a great time. So my days vary a great deal on weekends from weekdays, and that's great. I love it."
About ...
Name: Chris Smith
Age: 36
Hometown : Kittanning
Occupation: Computer technician, audio engineer and microwave television technician.
What make me happiest: Riding dirt bikes and playing with his band, Rock-A-billy Junction.
