Or NECRAT for those who have been around the internet for a while. Many, if not most of you will know Mike Fitzpatrick’s NECRAT website which features many pictures of radio transmitter sites around the country (not just the Northeast).
Even before I began blogging, I checked NECRAT often for interesting pictures of many different transmitter sites.
If you are one of the few who has not visited his site, go and check it out: http://www.necrat.us
I found this promotional picture in an old NAB conference technical papers book dating to 1969:
So here we see an obviously qualified and appropriately dressed technician gesturing to all the components she is about to install in the transmitter behind her. I wish I worked there. No, wait, I wish I had that transmitter and perhaps this fetching young woman would come and work at my station. Well, hell, I don’t need a TV transmitter, just the woman.
Sigh.
I wonder how many of these rigs RCA sold before the broadcast division went out of business.
By way of reference, the RCA TT-30FL is a VHF television transmitter, 30 KW peak visual power, 7.5 KW peak audio power, air-cooled.
We were notified that the WFAS-AM tower lights were out, thus, it was time to investigate. This problem was easy to find. Upon removing the waterproof cover on the tower light flasher box, I found this:
As soon as loosened the screws on the cover, I smelled the unmistakable odor of burned electronics and plastic. I disconnected the flasher and covered the photocell, which turned the side markers on. Of course, the top flashing beacon was dark, therefore, it was time to report the outage to the FAA. The nationwide number to report tower light outages is (877) 487-6867. That number is for an automated system, however, eventually, it leads to a live person. Since the new reporting system was established, the only required information is the tower ASRN. From that information, the operator will access a database and have all the required information to issue a NOTAM. In the past, many questions were usually asked; what is the nearest airport, how far away is the airport, how tall is the obstruction, what is the position, etc? Therefore, things have become slightly easier than before.
Once the outage is reported and a NOTAM is issued, the tower owner generally has fifteen days to correct the problem.
Short, but interesting video tour of an FM transmitter site in Germany. The analog transmitters are 10 KW Telefunken solid-state units, 5 main transmitters, and two reserve units into an antenna combiner. At approximately the 35-second mark, the video shows a Rhode & Schartz DAB transmitter. Germany uses DAB+ in band III (174-240 MHz).
It is always interesting to see how others are broadcasting.