This satellite dish nearly broke off of its mount during a “macroburst” event. According to the National Weather Service:
A macroburst is a thunderstorm downdraft affecting an area at least 2.5 miles wide with peak winds lasting 5 to 20 minutes. The macroburst is a straight-line wind phenomena not associated with rotation…used to differentiate from tornadic
winds. Macrobursts can produce as much if not more damage as tornadoes due to the size and scope of a macroburst.
On May 15th a large group of severe thunderstorms triggered at least three tornadoes and one macroburst event in eastern New York and Western Connecticut. Winds in the macroburst area were estimated to be in the 85 to 105 MPH range.
The next morning, it took a long time to get the the clients studio. Trees where down everywhere, roads were closed, traffic lights not working, etc. This created numerous detours and traffic jams. When I finally arrived at a clients studio facility, this was the first thing I noticed:
Comtech 3.8 meter dish with broken mount
That is an older 3.8 meter comtech dish hanging on by one 3/8 inch stainless steel U bolt. The funny thing is, they did not complain about this or the lack of satellite service. The main complaint was that the studios were on generator and some of the lights and air conditioners were not working.
Comtech 3/8 inch stainless U bolt sheared offComtech 3.8 meter dish support bracket twisted
This dish had originally been put up when AMC-8 was the main commercial radio network bird in the US. The dish elevation was only 9 degrees above the horizon, so this had to be put up next to the building at roof top level to clear the trees and see 139W.
I was attempting to secure the dish but in the end, the 650 pound dish was too tenuous and the weather was still unstable. There was other damage to the dish thus we decided to take it down instead. Even that took a bit of doing. We were trying find a crane or bucket truck, but all that type of equipment had been pressed into service with recovery efforts. We finally undid all the bolts and bracing and fell it like a tree.
Comtech dish on the ground
The dish was then cut up and put in the dumpster.
The new satellite dish will be installed next to building in a lower position.
I have been working on another formerly directional class B AM station, this one is in Rutland, VT. WSYB has been on the air since 1931 with the same call letters serving the east-central part of Vermont. In 1931, it was operating on 1500 kc with 100 watts of power. In March 1941 it moved to 1490 kc with 250 watts before settling, a few months later, on 1380 with 1,000 watts, directional night time protecting CKPC in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.
The transmitter site was first located at 80 West Street (now known as BUS US 4), in Rutland. It was moved to its current Dorr Drive (Formerly Creek Road) location in 1938, when the station was requesting a power upgrade to 250 watts. Whilst cleaning out the old transmitter building, a copy of an operating log, dated December 7, 1945 was discovered in the attic above the transmitter room:
WSYB transmitter log, 1945
Back from the time when readings were required every 30 minutes.
In 1956, WSYB was allowed 5,000 watts daytime non-directional with 1,000 watts nighttime directional.
At some point in the early 1990s, the original towers were replaced with solid-leg Pirod towers, each 195 feet tall.
After that, things went the way things do; AM steadily declined in favor of FM, local programming was mostly replaced by syndicated satellite stuff, there were several transfers of ownership, etc.
A translator on 100.1 MHz was added in 2016; the two-bay Shively antenna was installed at the top of the South West tower. There is local programming on the station from 6 am to noon on weekdays. There may also be some gardening shows and other such programming on weekends.
The current owner has decided like they have done in other markets, that AM directional antenna systems are a maintenance nightmare, the risk of FCC sanctions are high for an out-of-tolerance antenna array, and the ratings and income from the station do not justify the risk/cost. Thus, non-directional nighttime operation was applied for and granted. The station is now a Class D with 25 ass-kickin’ nighttime watts.
WSYB had a two-tower nighttime antenna system. The tower closest to the building (SW) was also the daytime, non-directional tower and it now holds the FM translator antenna and STL antenna. Thus, it was decided to ground that tower and keep those antennas in service. The far tower (NE), which was the second tower of the nighttime array would become the AM antenna. The nighttime ATU was built for less than 1,000 watts of input power, so several components needed to be upgraded for 5,000-watt operation.
WSYB rebuilt ATU
I had available these nice vacuum capacitors that came out of another decommissioned antenna system. The vacuum capacitors are great because the voltage/current ratings are much higher than the mica capacitors that were in the circuit before. You can see black goop where one of the Sangamo mica capacitors on the input leg failed several years ago. These vacuum capacitors are rated at 15 KV and the current rating at 1.38 MHz is probably in the 70-80 amp range. I had to move the base current meter from the former daytime (SW) tower out to the NE tower. The day-night switch was taken out of the circuit. The transmission line to the far tower was replaced with 7/8 inch foam dielectric cable. A slight touch-up of the coil on the input leg of the T network was all that was required to bring it into tune.
The electric lines to the tower have been temporarily disconnected. As soon as they are reconnected, I will vacuum out all the mouse crap and other debris. The ATU building also needs some work sealing it up against the elements.
The tower base impedance is 75 ohms, +j95 making the base current 8.6 amps daytime and 0.58 amps night time.
WSYB radiating element
For me, the magic of radio exists at that boundary between the real objects (towers and antennas) and the ether. The transference of electrical voltages and currents into the magnetosphere is something that still fascinates me to this day. Coupling a 5,000-watt medium wave transmitter to a tower and watching it work is something that I will never grow tired of.
Back in the days of my early adulthood, I found myself in various situations that were neither familiar nor followed any known script. Thankfully, I seemed to manage those things without getting suckered too badly and/or causing too much trouble for myself or others. Thus, when I was living in a barracks building and one of the other guys asked me to loan him $100.00 until payday, I deferred. Lending money to anyone is fraught with danger and in 1983 or 1984, $100.00 was worth quite a bit more than it is today, especially for a junior enlisted guy like I was at the time. A few hours later, the same fellow approached with a different arrangement; I would lend him $100.00 and he in turn would give me his Bass Guitar to hold onto until he paid me back. I looked at the rather nice Gibson Grabber bass complete with road case and said okay.
Now, this guy took that $100.00 and for some reason that was never clear, stole his roommate’s car that night and went UA. He was arrested a few days later some distance away near the border to another state. He never returned to me my $100.00 and I never returned to him his guitar.
1978 Gibson Grabber Bass Guitar with original hard road case
Over the ensuing years, I have picked this instrument up and fooled around with it from time to time. I even learned how to plunk along with some easier songs like Louie Louie. It was never serious and for the last twenty or so years, it sat unused in the back of a closet. A few days ago, while cleaning up, I noticed the road case sitting there. A little bit of research reveals that it was made in 1978 at the Gibson Guitar factory in Kalamazoo, MI. As it is in good condition with the original case, appears to be worth a bit of money.
I took some time and cleaned it up. One of the pots was a little scratchy, so I cleaned it with a bit of Deoxit. I took the bridge apart and cleaned it, removed the pickguard and pickups, and cleaned those thoroughly.
Gibson Grabber on stand
Being the curious type, I started fooling around with it again. I then found a few Youtube videos on how to play bass. I watched those along with some other learning tools. I began to practice scales. This turns out to be kind of fun. I do remember how to read music, although I would need to brush up on this skill somewhat if I want to become an actual bass player. I purchased a small Fender Amp, a scale chart, and a clip-on tuner and we are off to the races. I wonder how the electric bass translates to a stand-up bass. I could forgo the Rock ‘n Roll experience completely, but if I get good enough, I’d really like to play in a Jazz band. A boy can dream…
After a bit of reflection and a few good conversations over the New Year’s Holiday, I decided that I should continue my work on this blog. I would like to thank all those that have stuck by and waited. I have received numerous emails and messages offline, all of which have been read and appreciated.
Since the abrupt stoppage last July, which was absolutely necessary for me, many things have happened within the business. Fortunately, during the hiatus, I was still taking pictures. After sorting through them, here are a few interesting things that happened:
WROW-AM Steel mounting poles on antenna array field
This project required many steel mounting posts to be driven into the ground around the AM towers. I don’t even know how many, but I would hazard a guess of over three hundred. Each one of those mounting posts was hand-dug down a depth of 6-10 inches to look for ground wires. Where ever a ground wire was found, it was moved out of the way before the post was set.
WROW-AM ground wire moved out of way
Basically, the solar array covers about 1/2 of the antenna array field. All of the steel mounting hardware is tied into the ground system, making, what I am sure is a pretty large above-ground counterpoise.
WROW-AM solar panel mounting hardware
View from the south looking north:
Solar Array installed on WROW antenna array, Glenmont, NY
View from the north, outside of the transmitter building, looking south:
Solar Array installed on WROW antenna array, Glenmont, NY
Power company interface and disconnect:
Solar Array utility company disconnect, Glenmont, NY
The utility company had to upgrade the transmission lines to the nearest substation to handle the additional power produced by the solar system. All in all, it was a fun project to watch happen.
At a certain studio building, which is over 150 years old, the roof needed to be replaced. This required that the 3.2-meter satellite dish and non-penetrating roof mount be moved out of the way while that section of the roof was worked on.
3.2 meter satellite dish
Dish was ready to move, and all of the concrete ballast was removed and taken down from the roof. The roofing contractors constructed a caddy and the entire dish and mount were slid forward onto the area in front of it. Since the front part of the roof was not reinforced to hold up the satellite dish, we did not ballast the mount and the XDS receivers ran off of the streaming audio for a couple of days until the dish was put back in its original position.
3.2 meter satellite dish ready to move
A couple of other studio projects have been underway in various places. Pictures to follow…
One of our clients sold their radio stations to another one of our clients.
There has also been a bankruptcy of a major radio company here in the good ol’ US of A. Something that was not unexpected, however, the ramifications of which are still being decided on in various board rooms. One of the issues as contractors is whether or not we will get paid for our work. All things considered, it could be much worse.
Learned a valuable lesson about mice chewed wires on generator battery chargers. I noticed that the battery charger seemed to be dead, therefore, I reached down to make sure the AC plug was in all the way. A loud pop and flash followed and this was the result:
Arc burns, right hand
My hand felt a bit warm for a while. The fourth digit suffered some minor burns. There is at least one guy I know that would be threatening a lawsuit right now. Me, not so much… All of the high voltage stuff we work on; power supplies that can go to 25 KV, and a simple 120 VAC plug is the thing that gets me.
The return of the rotary phase maker.
Rotary phase maker, Kay Industries T-10000-A
Mechanically derived 3rd phase used when the old tube type transmitter cannot be converted to single phase service.
Those are just a few of the things I have been working on. I will generate some posts on current projects underway. Those projects include a 2 KW FM transmitter installation, another studio project, repair work on a Harris Z16HD transmitter, etc
