Update: WINE WRKI transmitter site move

I have been spending my days in Brookfield, Connecticut, dragging transmitters around and reconnecting them in various ways.  The WRKI-FM WINE-AM transmitter site is finally moving into the “new” transmitter building at the base of the tower.  Today, we moved WINE.

WINE was first signed on in 1963 on 940 KHz from a 170-degree non-directional tower on top of a pretty high hill.  That same tower serves as the antenna support for WRKI, which signed on in 1957.  The station runs 680 watts daytime, however since it is non-directional, it has some pretty serious power reductions at night.  The post-sunset power drops in two steps, 450 watts for the first hour, then 189 watts for the second hour, followed by 4 watts nighttime.

The 4-watt nighttime signal goes about 2-4 miles before it becomes unlistenable.  The Post Sun Set Authority (PSSA) allows the station to stay on the air with at least some coverage up to about 6:46 pm in the winter time and 10 pm in the summer, which is better than nothing.

The problem is, the Harris MW-1A transmitter goes down to 250 watts and no lower.  In order to make the nighttime power, the station switches to a dissipation network to burn off 246 watts of RF, at 50% percent AC-RF efficiency, which just ends up being a waste of power.  Further, the station engineers have been ignoring the PSSA because there are too many steps and it was easier to just switch to night power at sunset.

What we decided to do instead, was install a small low power night time transmitter, a Radio Systems TR-6000.  The MW1A can then be set to use the low power level for the first step of the PSSA, then switch the dissipation network in for the second step of the PSSA, and finally switch in the night transmitter at the proper time.

Harris MW1A AM transmitter, WINE 940 KHz, Brookfield, Ct
Harris MW1A AM transmitter, WINE 940 KHz, Brookfield, Ct

This is the Harris transmitter, new Circa 1981, which was cleaned up and moved into the new transmitter building.

WINE Parallel dissipation network and dummy load
WINE Parallel dissipation network and dummy load

The dissipation network.  This will have to be reconfigured for the proper power levels, once the night transmitter is installed.  The dissipation network is on the right, a dummy load is on the left.  The two large RF contactors switch the dissipation network in and out, or select which transmitter is feeding the antenna/dummy load.  This is the really, really old school way of doing it.  Most transmitters manufactured after 1990 or so can run at any power level, making a dissipation network unnecessary.

Before re-installing the dissipation network/dummy load, we lined the enclosure with copper mesh.  I don’t want that thing interfering with any of the other equipment nearby, which would be the STL receivers, satellite receivers, or Town of Brookfield police dispatch radios.

Schematically, it looks like this:

WINE 940 KHz Brookfield, CT night time dissipation network
WINE 940 KHz Brookfield, CT night time dissipation network

This is the picture behind the transmitters, which shows the coaxial cable feed through ports and the dissipation network on the wall.

WINE WRKI transmitter room, behind the transmitters
WINE WRKI transmitter room, behind the transmitters

It is a work in progress, so forgive the mess.

Shocker: LPFMs have little or no impact on commercial FMs

The long-awaited report, required by the NAB as a part of the Local Community Radio Act has concluded that LPFMs have little or no impact on commercial FM stations. No kidding?

The executive summary states that:

LPFM stations serve primarily small and rural markets and have geographic and population reaches that are many magnitudes smaller than those of full-service commercial FM stations. In addition, LPFM stations generally have not been in operation as long as full-service commercial FM stations, have less of an Internet presence, and offer different programming formats. We also found that the average LPFM station located in an Arbitron Radio Metro Market (“Arbitron Metro”) has negligible ratings by all available measures and has an audience size that lags far behind those of most full-service stations in the same market.

Followed by:

Although each of the stations differs considerably in its individual characteristics, the results of the case studies show that the selected LPFM stations generally broadcast a variety of programming continuously throughout the day, operate with very small budgets, rely on mostly part-time and volunteer staff, do not have measurable ratings, have limited population reach, and do not generate significant underwriting earnings. All but one of the station managers that we interviewed stated that the LPFM station is not competing directly for listeners with any specific full-service stations.

And:

We conclude that, given their regulatory and operational constraints, LPFM stations are unlikely to have more than a negligible economic impact on full-service commercial FM stations.

Forgive my excessive block quoting of the FCC report titled: Economic Impact of Low-Power FM Stations on Commercial FM Radio, I found those portions of text far better than anything that I could write on the subject.

The NAB is reportedly “reviewing” the results, which the cynical me thinks is just another way of stalling a potential LPFM window later this year.

I don’t know what it is that I like about you but I like it a lot

Alternate title: How Important is College Radio?

If Radio as an entertainment medium is to survive; vital. College Radio is the alternative to corporatist radio and is fertile ground for new artists and music.   The big three radio groups control (Clear Channel, Cumulus, CBS) something like 75% of the radio revenue while owning 13% of the commercial radio stations.  Against that wall, the remaining radio groups and independent operators hurl themselves to make a living.  While there are few (precious few) commercial independent operators who do break new music, perform community service and provide a valuable asset to their city of license, the majority of the remaining 87% of radio stations run some sort of repeater/automated format.

In this risk-adverse society, which large radio group is willing to take even small calculated risks?

Who is going to replace Dick Clark and where will that person come from?  By the way, God bless Dick Clark but, man, enough already.

Where will the newest crop if disk jockeys come from?

If one wants to hear something new, or at least different, there is no better place to listen than a student-run college radio station.

It was in this setting that several college boards had a Eureka! moment when they discovered that those FM licenses were actually worth money.  Money! and in not-so-small amounts in several cases.  The collective wisdom is that kids these days don’t listen to radio, nobody will miss those programs anyway.  Even so, when Rice University sought to transfer KTRU there was a large backlash from Alumni and the student body.  When the University of San Francisco sold KUSF to Entercom, they did so over Christmas break.  At Vanderbilt University, the WRVU staff was locked out of the studio.  The whole sordid tale can be found in 2011: The Year that College Radio Fought Back and College Radio’s fight for FM.

There are other stations whose fate is less well known, no doubt.

It is disappointing to see the various college boards deciding that broadcast radio is no longer desired and to see the campus radio station regarded as an extracurricular activity or so much excess real estate.

There are still many college radio stations in this area that are worthwhile to listen to, just to hear something other than blended crap, super specialized satellite radio channels, or some personality-less internet stream with computer-picked songs.

So kudos to WRPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), WVKR (Vassar College), and others like them for having student-run radio stations and not selling out or morphing into the borg-like collective that is NPR.

Old Year SWR

This time of year is when we all sit back and assess things that we did in the past 365 or so days. It is called reflection, which is just a civilian term for SWR (Standing Wave Ratio).

Thus, I thought I would take a little time and make a few observations about the business, my part in it, and this blog.

1.  The business of Radio:

Let us be honest, Radio is not what it used to be.  Many times, what it used to be was somewhat of a free for all, wheeler-dealer radio station owners cutting corners and making do with less than-optimum equipment and staff.  And trade, lots and lots of trade. Only in large metropolitan areas did radio stations make enough money to throw it around, but sometimes not even then.  Radio was by no means a huge money-making operation and therefore, those that worked in mostly it did it as a labor of love.  That may or may not have come across on the air.  By far, the funniest station I ever listened to was run from a closet, with a sound reinforcement board and the program director’s CD collection.  What made it so much fun was they had nothing to lose, there were no restraints placed on the staff.  Once that on-air enthusiasm translated to ratings, then to revenue, the magic was gone and they were just another radio station filling a spot on the dial.

The radio business has fully transitioned from a fun, seat-of-the-pants entertainment operation to a mega money-making corporate mentality under the control of mostly non-entertainment types.  Even those stations owned by smaller group owners are forced to rely on the tactics developed by the big two in order to stay in business.

Group owners will continue to extract money in whatever way they can until the money train runs off the rails.  Then, radio will be replaced by something less.

2.  Radio Engineering:

Engineering will continue to grow smaller, with more emphasis on computers, networking, and IT infrastructure.  The future distribution of music and program material will take the form of streaming (live events), podcasts (specialty shows), and subscription services.  Over-the-air free radio will become less and less relevant as younger “listeners” trend toward new media.  The idea of listeners may be archaic in lieu of “subscribers” or “users.”  Thus, in order to remain relevant, broadcast engineers are going to have to keep their skill sets current.  I would recommend to anyone getting into the business to get current with routers, routing tables, Cisco equipment, and whatnot.  The cloud is coming and will rain on all those not adjusted to the new “broadcasting” reality.

3.  My part in the business:

A somewhat superannuated broadcast engineer whose skill set lies mostly within the RF and heavy-duty electrical areas, I am going back to college in January.  Cisco Network Administrator is the degree I am shooting for, for that is where the local jobs, both in and out of broadcasting will be.  Network Administrators are going to be the backbone of cloud computing, those that can configure routing tables will be desired.

That being said, I continue to be involved with larger RF projects and transmitter work.  It is fun for me, most of the time.  Having to drive two hours, one way on Christmas Eve to fix a backup transmitter, not so much, but those situations tend to be the exception, rather than the rule.

All in all, it is great fun to press the high voltage on button, not knowing if the transmitter will cycle on normally, or put on some type of display.

4.  The blog:

This little thing we have here has been fun.  I get a good response to most articles.  I welcome all the comments and offline e-mails that come my way.  My original intent, which is to provoke thought and dialog, remains unchanged.  This year, I have delved into areas not covered by the trade magazines, but do have at least some bearing on radio or radio-related arts.  To that end, there have been several negative responses, which is fine.  I don’t pretend to know everything, if you know more, then by all means, speak up.  By and large, however, the majority of responses continue to be positive.

I continue to grow the overseas audience, with roughly 36% of the page views coming from non-US IP addresses.  Persons from The UK, followed by Canada, Netherlands, Australia, and Germany are the top five non-US readers of this blog.

So, I will continue to post about things in the coming year.  If any of you have any suggestions or requests, shoot me an email or leave a comment.

In the meantime, have a Happy New Year!