Engineering Radio – Page 101 – One Hundred percent Human Generated Content for your Reading Enjoyment

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, WROW-AM transmitter site, Albany, NY.

Overhead Conduit, WRKI transmitter site, Brookfield, CT

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

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

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

LEA TVSS surge suppressor, WSPK, Mount Beacon, NY

RCA BTA1AR transmitter

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

WHHZ studio console, Gainesville, FL

Chasing down a Pirate Radio station

I stumbled on this video on youtube. It seems like some old guy has too much time on his hands and is out being a private citizen vigilante:

Part one, he is driving around a neighborhood with a spectrum analyzer looking at signal strength:

Seems slightly creepy.

Then there is part II, the plot twist:

Actually, looks like a nice studio. PRE BMX II console, RE-20 microphones, and a live performance room at a radio station, what a concept.

Part III, the trouble of a technical nature sets in:

Brave man, fear of heights is overcome because of his love of radio. I myself suffer from Phronemophobia, not in myself, but in other people.

So this series goes on for some, then… First, a Notice Of Unauthorized Operation (NOUO), then, A construction permit for a C1 station! Wow!

So, they are currently building out their station and putting up a tower. Check out 89.1 Ken’s FM-KNNZ and see how they are doing. The call sign is KNNZ, licensed to Hawley, MN. Real radio, is alive and well in some places at least.

I wonder what kind of transmitter that is, I do not recognize it.

Good luck, guys. I will have to check out the web stream, it sounds like fun.

Backing up the UPS

Power loss is a critical failure, thus much money is spent to prevent or mitigate commercial power interruptions in broadcast facilities. Backup generators and Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) are the first lines of defense against commercial power interruptions. It is prudent to research products and check reliability and interoperability when specifying and installing these systems. However, even the best mechanical and electrical systems will fail, often at the worst possible time. The UPS has a startling tendency to shut down, often at the worst possible moment, due to some internal control circuit or something similar. This can happen when commercial power is being supplied without interruption. The net result is some critical piece of equipment is now dark and the station is off the air.

There is a solution: The Eaton EATS EPDU TPC 2234-A Automatic Transfer Switch.

With this unit, the primary plug is connected to the output of the UPS, the secondary plug is connected to the commercial power source. If the UPS fails, the load is automatically transferred to the commercial power. Typically, the commercial power is also backup up with a generator. The secondary plug can also be connected to a second UPS. In theory, having two UPSs connected in parallel via an Automatic Transfer Switch would increase the Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) by 50%.

The Eaton products come with a variety of options, including basic network monitoring, advanced network monitoring, switching, and management. Those features are available via Ethernet or serial data port.

Multiple layers of redundancy is the best method to avoid those late-night, weekend, or holiday phone calls.

WKZE transmitter site

We rebuilt this station’s studio couple of years ago. WKZE is licensed to Salisbury, Connecticut. The transmitter is located near Millerton, NY and the studio is in Red Hook, NY. Today, I had to go to the transmitter site to fix a problem with the station’s processor. While there, I snapped a few pictures:

WKZE, 98.1 MHz, Millerton, NY — WKZE, 98.1 MHz, tower near Millerton, NY

The WKZE single-bay antenna is mounted on the left-hand tower.

WKZE single bay Shively 6810 antenna with Radome

The transmitter is a CCA FM3000DS, made new in April, 1970:

WKZE 98.1 MHz CCA transmitter — WKZE 98.1 MHz CCA FM3000DS transmitter

The CCA designs are dirt simple. Grounded grid, driven with an external solid state amplifier that is a modification.

WKZE CCA transmitter, 42 years on — WKZE CCA FM3000DS transmitter, 42 years on

As you can see, this transmitter was originally manufactured for WHVW-FM, which is now WCZX. The station has a large, mostly cult following throughout the mid Hudson valley. Even though it is a 3,000-watt class A station, its coverage carries far beyond its theoretical 60 dBu contour:

This is because the station is in mono.