If one considers paradise an FM35A. Going through another iteration of blown transmitter fuses for WEBE, Bridgeport, CT. Yesterday, I spent the afternoon examining the transmitter and found several interesting things:
Fresh arc tracks on the PA cavity and PA loading capacitor
The shoes and bars in the high voltage contactor were severely pitted
One of the mains phases (middle) in the high voltage supply appears to be heating up, likely due to a loose connection.
Discolored wire on buss bar
I checked and re-tightened all of the mains connections. Apparently, this is an old problem, as the Allen screw was tight. Interestingly, the fuse that was blown was on the red phase, which is different from what it was last time.
I spent the afternoon filing and sanding off the arc track marks in the PA cavity. It is very important to file flat all sharp points that where the result of arcing. Any sharp points will induce corona. I also filed down all of the contacts in high voltage contactor, which took a fair amount of time. These are soft copper shoes and bars which had so much pitting and carbon I wonder how they didn’t catch on fire. I filed them flat. We were back on the 35A transmitter at full power by 4:30pm.
If this happens again, I will bring my megger out and check the insulation on the wire between the disconnect switch and the HV power supply.
When I left the site at 5:30, I felt like we did some good work.
We have received somewhere between 5-6 inches of rain in the last four days. That, coupled with the deep snow pack and the still frozen ground has lead to some flooding. The WLNA antenna array is located along the Peekskill Hollow Creek in northern Westchester County, NY. Back in 1980, it might have seemed like a good idea to locate an AM station in a tidal swamp along the Hudson river. I am sure the land was not that expensive and from an engineering standpoint, having a continually wet, partially brackish ground system may have seemed like a slam dunk.
Unfortunately, the idea never really panned out in application. First of all, the neighbors had other ideas, fighting the radio station owners all the way to the NY State Supreme court. Secondly, technically, it never lived up to expectations. The original non-directional antenna on 1430 was a 1/2 wave tower which by all accounts, worked very well. It did not, however, allow for night time service, which is why the new sight and array was sought. By the time the system was built, AM was already in steep decline and I doubt the owners ever recouped their investment.
Fast forward to today. All five base insulators are under water and the transmitter is off the air. These are pictures from last Wednesday after the first flood waters receded from the Monday/Tuesday storm. I imagine it looks worse this morning, although I don’t own a boat and won’t be wading out there to look.
Base insulator, tower 2 WLNA array, Peekskill, NY
This is tower two of the daytime antenna array. Clearly, it spent some time underwater. We cleaned off all the debris from all the tower bases. A far worse prospect are the ATU’s:
WLNA tower 1 ATU, Peekskill, NY
This is the Antenna Tuning Unit for tower 1, which is the reference tower for both the day and night arrays. The E.F. Johnson contactor in the bottom of the cabinet was fully submerged for an undetermined amount of time. The bottom of the unit is covered in fine silt. The high water mark is visible on the right side of the aluminum cabinet.
The contactor is going to need to be replaced, or at least rebuilt. The ATU cabinet will need to be washed out. There are two other ATUs that suffered the same fate.
WLNA antenna array, towers 3 and 5
This is the end of the catwalk next to the Peekskill Hollow Creek looking west towards the Hudson River. The water level reached the bottom of the catwalks and had receded about 4 feet when this picture was taken.
WLNA antenna array, tower 5, Peekskill, NY
Lookup east, upstream at tower 5.
WLNA antenna array looking north, Peekskill, NY
This is the antenna array looking north, with my back facing the creek. Tower one is the center tower, tower two is on the right and tower four is on the left. The daytime array consists of towers 1, 2, and 3 bearing 300 degrees. The night time array consists of towers 1, 4, and 5 bearing 335 degrees, so the array makes a big X in the swamp. More from the FCC database.
It is going to take a lot of work to clean out all these ATUs and repair the damage. Clean water is at least 1000 feet away. My question is; why bother? Once upon a time, this station was viable, well thought of in the community, etc. Now, I doubt anyone knows it is off the air. The current ownership over the last thirteen years did, what I’d like to call, a controlled flight into the ground. Axing staff, cutting maintenance and generally neglecting the station. Why not take it dark for a while and figure out what to do with it. Likely somebody would buy it, even if for the land it sits on. Anyway, the grind continues…
Back many, many years ago, in a city far away, I was driving down the road and I flipped one of “my” stations on the air. The end of this song was playing:
The ending sounds an awful lot like a Moseley MRC-16 transmitter remote control’s return telemetry. When I heard that on the air, my first response was “HOLY SH*T! The telemetry is on the main channel!” A little voice in the back of my head said “That is not possible. How is that possible?” I grabbed the gigantic, then state of the art Motorola bag phone and dialed the studio hot line, just before I hit the ”send” button, the song faded out and the announcer came on back selling “Karma Police by Radiohead”
Wow. Radiohead? Karma Police? WTF?
I almost had a coronary. When I got home, I tried explaining this all to my then girl friend, who didn’t get it. Few do. At the time, making such an error would be very bad form indeed and likely open the unfortunate party to all sorts of snickering and finger pointing at the next SBE meeting.
The WICC transmitter site, Pleasure Beach in Bridgeport, has been cut off from normal access since the bridge to the island burned in 1996. Since that time, access has been by boat with a 0.93 mile walk from the dock to the transmitter building.
Last summer, LVI Construction, under contract from the Town of Stratford, put in a temporary road and began removing the burned out cottages. While that road is in place, the radio station has been able to access the site and get many important things accomplished. These include:
Removing several decades worth of stored crap, garbage, obsolete and unused equipment
Repair the electrical service to the building
Replace the generator transfer switch
Repair the Sonitrol building alarm
Replace the old Onan Generator
Have the power company replace the 3 phase circuit from the point where the under water cables come ashore to the transmitter building.
All of these projects should greatly improve the reliability of the station. This should make Bill, happy, who appears to have a WICC chip implanted in his brain because every time the carrier is interrupted he posts about it on the radio-info.com website.
The biggest issue with the site was the utility feed from the shore to the transmitter building. The original circuit was installed in 1936 when the station moved to the island. It was old and the poles were all rotting and had horizontal cross arms. Ospreys especially like the horizontal cross arms as they made good nesting spots. That is, until the nest shorts out one of the phases catches on fire and burns the top of the pole off. This has happened several times over the years causing many hours of off air time.
WICC new utility service
United Illuminating, the local utility company, was very cooperative and installed new utility poles, wires, breakers and transformers, this time with a vertical phase arrangement, which should keep the Ospreys off of them. Additionally, the cottage removal project included installing Osprey nesting poles.
Pleasure beach cottages removed
With almost all of the cottages now removed, the area looks much better than before. Actually, it should be a nice nature preserve and hopefully, the absence of the buildings might reduce the number of vandals in the area. The work is almost done, so the road is about to be taken up. This means we need to wrap up the work out there, so the final push is on.
WICC transmitter building
In the last three weeks, 10 truck loads of junk have been hauled out of the transmitter building and generator shack. Over 1,500 pounds of scrap steel, 640 pounds of insulated wire, 2,000 pounds of particle board furniture, old t-shirts and hats (something called “Taste of Bridgeport” which, if anyone knows what that was let me know), old propane tanks, batteries, etc. We also managed to fix the fence and gate in front of the building, cut down the over grown yew bushes and bittersweet vines.
Transfer Switch
The old Kolher transfer switch was also an issue. There was no place to mount a new switch inside and mounting one outside is out of the question, so the guts from the Kohler switch were removed and replace with an ASCO unit. This was done in the summer of 2009. The breaker on the right side is the main service disconnect for the building, which was installed in September.
Onan 12 KW 12JC 4R air cooled generator, removed from service
Today, it was time to replace the Onan propane generator. The old generator is an Onan 12JC-4R air cooled propane unit which was installed on April 4, 1969 at a cost of $1,545.00 new. For many years, this unit gave reliable service, but it has many, many hours on it and it lacks the fault/self control circuits needed for remote (read desolate) operation. Several times over the last few years, the generator would run out of gas or the propane tank would freeze up and the starter would crank until it burned out.
It was cold out on the island, with temperatures in the twenties and a bitter west wind blowing right into the generator shack. All of this conspired to make working conditions difficult. Wind chill readings were in the single digits all day long, and in spite of long johns and extra layers, by 3 pm I was shivering and even several hours after coming inside, I still feel cold.
Using tractor to move new generator
The new generator is an Cummins/Onan 20GGMA which is rated for 20 KW. We used a John Deere bucket tractor to move the generator from the flat bed truck to the generator building, then push it inside. The old generator wiring to the transfer switch was reused, but a piece of flex was used to connect to the generator instead of the solid conduit. The building fan was also wired up so that it will run whenever the generator is running.
The generator load with all possible things switched on and the transmitter running at full power is about 12,000 watts, but this would mean the air conditioner and tower lights were on during the daytime. More likely, the transmitter will be at low power when the tower lights are on and the AC will be intermittent on/off at night. At full load, this generator uses slightly less than 2 gallons of propane per hour. At half load, I’d estimate that to be 1.4 or so gallons.
Cummins Onan generator in new home
100 pound propane gas tanks
HOCON gas came out and connected six 100 pound propane tanks in series, which should prevent tank icing. Propane weights about 4.11 pounds per gallon, therefore the fuel supply should last about 100 hours, or 4.5 days, give or take. Why 100 pound tanks? Because we will have to shuffle them back and forth between the dock and the generator shed, a journey of about one mile, in a cart. Anything larger would be impossible to deal with. Even so, refilling the propane will be a 2 person job and will likely take all day.
I found this fuse in an old electrical panel that we were removing from the WICC generator shed. This was the original service entrance for the site as it was built in 1932 or so. The generator shed had a manual three pole two position transfer switch, which was fine back in the day that a licensed transmitter engineer was on site whenever the station was on the air. The generator, according to the old records I could find, was an upright 2 cylinder slow speed engine with a belt driven generator. They were mounted on concrete pads about 5 feet apart. The motor had a big fly wheel that was hand cranked with the compression off. Once a good head of speed was built up with the hand crank, the compression lever was thrown and the engine would start. Alternatively, the procedure was tried again.
That was all replaced in 1971 when the transmitter site underwent a major upgrade. The old electrical service was bypassed and abandoned in place when a new meter and panel was installed on the transmitter building. The old service seems to have been frozen in time, untouched for forty years.
Kirkman Engineering renewable fuse
This fuse is a Kirkman Engineering Company and has a manufacture date stamp of January 1945. It is a replaceable link AKA “renewable” fuse. In has “peak lag” links, which I think would be called “slow blow” today. Peak lag may also indicate a large inductive load, which would lower the power factor. What I find interesting is that someone, once upon a time, placed two 100 amp links in parallel, then crossed the 100 AMP label out and wrote “200″ on the fuse body.
Kirkman Engineering fuse links
The problem with this setup, the panel and wiring were all rated for 100 amps. The wiring is #4 copper, and the transfer panel and switch are clearly labeled “100 amp, 3 pole.” It would appear that the finger stock holding the upper blade in place was loose, causing the fuse body to overheat. In fact, it became so heated that the case and the wood fiber holder are charred and missing.
Fortunately, there was never a fire.
The reason why we use properly sized fuses and breakers.
Back in the day, when tube transmitters ruled the broadcast world, common practice was to have a big cooling fan moving outside air through the transmitter building connected to a thermostat. Temperature swings of 30 to 40 degrees were common, however, the tube rigs could handle almost any temperature that didn’t melt plastic or freeze water.
Today’s solid state transmitters are not that rugged. They like to have there rooms around 70 degrees +/- 10 degrees or so. Not to mention the other computer controlled equipment commonly found at a transmitter site. Things like air chain processors, STLs, remote controls, etc. So, lots of air conditioning is the norm, and with lots of air conditioning comes lots of maintenance.
Air handler air filters need to be checked and replaced often. Condenser coils seem to attract every type of flying debris on the planet and need to be cleaned once, possible twice per year depending on tree and weed species near the site. Even with the preventative maintenance, occasionally things like this happen:
AC condenser frozen dryer and piping
Of course, the entire cooling coil inside is frozen solid.
This condenser is low on refrigerant, causing icing problems. It has a slow leak somewhere and is about to be replaced. Other reasons for this happening are malfunctioning or non-existent low ambient kit on the condenser fan. Sometimes less than knowledgeable persons will install a 5 ton unit designed to run throughout the year but not take into account the effect of moving below freezing air at high speed across the coils. Insufficient air moving across the cooling coil will also cause this. Insufficient air flow can be due to plugged air filters or clogged fan/blower blades.
This one is even better (same condenser unit):
AC condenser broken fan
The fan blade is sheared off and jammed into the condenser coil. This happened during power transfer from generator power to commercial power. Naturally, it was at 1 am in the morning after a pole mounted transformer had been replaced. When the building transfered back to commercial power, I went outside to use the “bathroom” before my two hour drive back home. I though I smelled something hot, you know that cooked paint/plastic smell, but couldn’t really track it down… the winds were kicking up and another thunderstorm was on the way.
The next afternoon, however, when the sun was up and the site was working on one air conditioner, the temperature alarm went off. Upon arrival, I found the condenser breaker tripped, resetting it caused the building lights to dim. The fan motor was shorted to case. I would theorize the aluminum fan blade suffered from metal fatigue, likely because the blades were not balanced causing a vibration. When the power transfer occurred, there was just the right combination of torque and centripetal force to cause the blade to rip, then lodge in the condenser coil.
The fan motor has replaced, but I think it is time to replace the whole condenser unit, which will be expensive.
AC&R Gauge set
I found having a set of gauges to check the head pressure and suction is a good diagnostic tool to quickly pinpoint problems with HVAC units. This way, when the HVAC tech shows up, you can quickly point him in the right direction.
This is yet another addition of the “Burned up Sh*t” collection:
GE 30 Amp 3 pole breaker
It is a breaker from a 5 ton AC compressor. Back in the bad old days when I was the Director of Engineering for a 28 station group Headquartered in Harrisburg, PA, I received a phone call from one of the local engineers. He stated that the studio AC unit compressor had burned out again and the breaker keeps tripping. What did I think, asked he. I thought perhaps he should dig a little deeper and determine why the breaker was tripping before throwing another AC compressor at it. When are you coming to town again, he cheerfully inquired.
Okay, I get it.
I started by calling the HVAC company to inquire what had gone wrong with the compressors. Winding shorted to case for both units was the answer received. It being July and mighty hot out, the various worker bees in the studio where feeling inconvenienced by the sweat in their eyes and dripping on their work, etc. I called the local manager and asked for a hotel room, I’d be up tomorrow. Then I called the HVAC guy back and asked in to meet me at the studio tomorrow afternoon.
Upon arrival the next morning, I found the fifth floor studios to be hot, as reported. I trip to the roof location proved to be hotter still. I tested the voltages at the compressor unit with a DVM and everything looked good. A trip down to the utility room found the electrical panel in reasonable shape. Then the local engineering guy chimed in, “Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, the breaker hums and gets hot when the compressor is on.”
It’s always that little bit of missing information…
I took the breaker out and sure enough, the fingers were all arched and nasty looking.
I replaced the breaker, the HVAC guy showed up, with a new compressor and the studios began to cool off around 3 pm.
Since then, I specify Square D QO bolt on breakers for new installations, especially for heavy loads like AC units, transmitters, and so on. They are a little more expensive, but in the light two AC compressors, the unscheduled trip out of town, and the grumbling staff, it is better to pay upfront for better equipment than to put up with preventable outages.
Happened the other day, took out the monitor speakers too. I am not sure how this happened, but the production director reported that the speakers began making very loud squeal. Somebody finally thought to turn off the amp using the conveniently located on/off switch on the front panel.
Crown D75 audio board burned open resistor
The two watt resistor is burned open. Also, this got so hot it burned a hole in the circuit board below it. Truth be told, I think this amp was about 25 years old and due to be replaced when the new studios were built out.
I’ve seen these Crown amplifiers self destruct in the past.
Sometimes it is the seemly small insignificant detail that will take a station off the air. To expound on that a bit, I have my own story which happened yesterday. The back story is this: About three years ago, some unauthorized tower climbers climbed the WICC south tower all the way to the top. The station remained on the air at full power while this was going on. Once at the top of the three hundred foot tower, the climber, we can call him “Crack Head,” manged to loosen, then remove the beacon and throw it to the ground. Mind you, this guy had no safely climbing equipment whatsoever and he had to stand on the top plate, which is all of 20″ x 20″ square, of which the beacon takes up 16 inches. A two inch purchase between himself and eternity demonstrates that God does indeed smile on fools and drunks.
WICC South tower with Long Island sound in background
Fortunately, his friend on the ground had a video camera and filmed the entire episode. Even better, they then posted it on Youtube. The police took interest in this video and it’s owners because the damage to the radio station was significant, and with the tower being about a mile away from the end of the Stratford Airport runway 17, presented a real hazard to air navigation. Needless to say, the video was used by the prosecution and both crack heads are now in prison, God having limits after all.
A spare beacon was hoisted to the top of the tower an placed in service. This beacon was quite old and leaky and continually failed, burning out the tower light flasher. Thus, it was time to replace it. We took advantage of the outstanding weather and the crew from Northeast Towers made quick work of it. Removing and lower the old beacon to the ground, then hoisting the new beacon up and installing it. I goobered it by not taking pictures of the beacon fixtures flying up and down the tower. I took the station off the air for about five minutes to check the condition of the wiring going up the tower, making sure there were no shorts up the tower or back toward the transmitter building. While I was doing this, I overheard the two way radio conversation between the tower climber and the ground crew on wiring. It seems the old beacon had only two wires, hot and neutral. The new beacon had three wires, hot, neutral and ground. Tie the neutral and ground wires together, instructed the tower boss.
Nothing more was though of that, it sounded okay to me. Unfortunately, the tower had other ideas. About an hour after we secured from the job and drove away, the station went off the air. It seems the neutral wire was not referenced to the tower previously. Because now the neutral wire was tied to the top of the tower, the RF found a path to ground via the tower lighting choke at the base of the tower. It started arcing to it’s access door causing the transmitter to go off around 4 PM. Equally unfortunate was the fact that the construction gate was closed and I had to get a boat ride with the harbor master, which took about an hour to arrange. The entire situation was further complicated by darkness, which comes predictably around 6:30 PM this time of year.
When I arrived back out at the base of the tower, I took the metal access door off of the tower light choke cabinet. I could see the fresh track marks all across the bottom of the door. With the door off, I turned the transmitter on. Worked just fine. I tried cleaning it off with a Scotch Bright, but to no avail, the transmitter would not run at any power level with the door in place.
Finally, the harbor master becoming impatient and darkness quickly falling, I taped a garbage bag over the tower light choke box with the door off and turned the transmitter back on. The tower crew will have to come back and remove the ground wire on the beacon.
The first rule of trouble shooting: Check the last thing that was worked on first.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
~1st amendment to the United States Constitution
Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
~Benjamin Franklin
...radio was discovered, and not invented, and that these frequencies and principles were always in existence long before man was aware of them. Therefore, no one owns them. They are there as free as sunlight, which is a higher frequency form of the same energy.
~Alan Weiner
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers
~Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, Article 19
Heard in the clear