The name of a song on Pink Floyd’s album, Meddle, released in 1971. The only lyrics in the song are drummer Nick Mason, who says “One of these days I am going to cut you into little pieces.” This was recorded at double speed with Mason speaking in falsetto, then played back at normal speed. Anyway, a good song from one of my favorite Pink Floyd albums.
And so it was for this Thales UHF TV transmitter. Installed in 2005 or so during the early transition to digital TV for PBS affiliate WNPI-DT.
Decommissioning a liquid cooled transmitter requires a few extra steps. First and foremost, as much as possible the antifreeze needs to be captured and collected for proper disposal. In this case, approximately 110 gallons (417 liters) of Dowtherm heat transfer fluid was drained into barrels.
Next, all of the RF modules and power supplies were removed from the transmitter. Both needed to be drained of HTF.
The outdoor heat exchanger presented a new problem:
It was attached to the concrete pad with hammer fixed anchors which needed to be ground off with a hand grinder.
It was a little bit chilly on a 10 F (-12 C) day, laying on the concrete pad, in the snow, under the heat exchanger with a hand grinder grinding the top of of eight little round bolts. After that was done, I managed to pry the legs loose and tip it slightly to get the rest of the HTF out into a bucket. I think the HE had about 15 gallons (57 liters) of HTF.
Next, all of the smaller sub assemblies were removed; the upper and lower RF module and power supply frames, the two control module frames, the rails that held the control modules, the AC power input and distribution frame and the controller frame and all the circuit boards. The RF module and power supply frames had HTF tubes and pipes that needed to be drained. The circuit boards are disposed of as E-waste.
The wiring harness was removed.
Finally, the stainless steel main cabinet frame was cut into manageable pieces with the battery powered sawzall (reciprocating saw) so that it could be carried out of the building.
All in all, it was a fun project.
Reading this post brings back memories of cold hands, mild frostbite and an utter lack of patience working on mechanical things in weather like that.
Is there any realistic secondary market for that transmitter or is it’s next mission in life to serve as the scrap steel they make new dishwashers out of?
This past summer, we installed a GatesAir VAXTE-6, and scrapped a four-cabinet Platinum VHF. That was less than fun, especially the power supplies. The cabinet pieces and power supplies were taken by the metal recyclers, and the RF modules are stacked in a corner awaiting the e-cyclers.
Are Thales transmitters no longer supported by Thomson? Or was that a high channel transmitter that was obsoleted by the re-pack? Either way, seems those LDMOS transistors would be worth something. Maybe you could send me one to play around with.
Lou, there is no more Comark support. Thompson sold off Comark many many years ago to Hitachi who took the money and ran after the repack, closed the business and refused to let anyone buy the name or product line. The building in Southwick, MA sits abandoned. Sad ending to a company that made some of the best IOT transmitters going. Easily the best analog ever made UHF exciter in the IOX line.
Those Ultimate transmitters were really an ultimate piece of sh… I know I worked on their VHF counter part at two different stations, (the optimum piece of sh…). They were made by Thales for Comark. Came on a boat from France. The service manuals were either entirely in French or “Fringlish”. Depends on which one you used.
I worked with Bill Leland (RIP) on converting our VHF 12 transmitter half into DTV in Rehoboth. (Providence). Once we figured out the odd pump control interlocks. (Which took two days and a jerry rigged connection, that I believe remained until it was decommissioned in 2019). Then where I am at, our pre repack was a Harris Stinkma, I mean Sigma. That was replaced by the Gates Air ULXTE 90, which I really like. Easily one of the nicest transmitters I’ve ever maintained.
This post brings back memories of early 2018 when we decommissioned the Paragon at WMHT. The bitterly cold days spent draining and cutting-down those cooling towers and draining and capturing the oil from the high voltage supplies all come to mind. It’s all EXACTLY what was described in this article. For recycling, we did similar and brought it all to Ben Weitsman where it was amazing to watch them remove the heat exchangers from our trailer and toss it on the heap of scrap metal like it was a Matchbox car.
I’m disappointed in Hitachi for the money grab they made and what they did to Comark. That said, how does that affect the users who purchased the Parallax from Comark?
Matt,
Two of them in Boston are replacing their transmitters already. One with a Rhode and the other with a Gates. Most of us in Boston have rigs that are creeping into the 8 year old category, so it’s not the most unheard of thing. But AFAIK, no one is supporting them.
Any EEV CX2708 thyratron tubes in that thing? I’m not super familiar with that design so I don’t know what was inside. If so, I will take them off of your hands. I build table lamps out of them. Thanks.
“Are Thales transmitters no longer supported by Thomson?”
Thanks for verifying that, the transmitter shows ‘Made In USA’, and I thought Thales was an old European concern…
Lou, I thought about grabbing one of the RF modules and bringing it home, but I have enough “I might be able to use this” items in my barn.
Valvashon, all solid state, so no tubes.
Mike, I looked at the pump interlock/control box before I ripped it off of the wall. It did seem a little strange.