equipment – Engineering Radio

Machinery as Art

I have always been fascinated with mechanical things. Moving parts; engines, motors, turbines, actuators, et cetera are all designed with function over form in mind. Still, there is a certain beauty to a well-designed machine or piece of equipment. Somebody had to design the equipment to fill a basic need. In that design process, a certain amount of creativity was used to determine how it looks. The title specifies machinery, however by extension, transmitters are included in this category.

Here are some pictures of various equipment and things found in a radio station:

Onan diesel generator

Onan diesel generator, WROW-AM transmitter site, Albany, NY.

Overhead Conduit

Overhead Conduit, WRKI transmitter site, Brookfield, CT

Borg transmitter

Playing around with Photoshop. The back of a Nautel V 7.5 transmitter, WSPK transmitter site, Mount Beacon, NY.

Fire tower

Sixty-foot tall Aeromotors LS40 fire tower, Clove Mountain, NY

Nautel NV

Back of Nautel NV-40 transmitter, WVPS, Mount Mansfield, VT

LEA TVSS surge suppressor

LEA TVSS surge suppressor, WSPK, Mount Beacon, NY

RCA BTA1 transmitter

RCA BTA1AR transmitter

Nautel V-40 transmitter

Nautel V-40 transmitter (combined V-10 x 4), WHUD, Peekskill, NY

WHHZ studio console

WHHZ studio console, Gainesville, FL

The Otari MTR10

I have come upon two of these units in very good shape:

Otari MTR10 1/4 inch 2 track reel to reel machine

Once upon a time, these were top of the line units. I don’t know how much they cost new, but I’d imagine it is somewhere north of $3K in 1985.

Both machines work mechanically and electrically. One machine has some slight grooves in the record and playback heads and looks a little more worn. The other does not. I will entertain all offers. If a person would want the machine to be gone through and aligned, I’d charge three to four hundred dollars for my time.