FM transmitter site – Page 13

This is cute. A small (VS allegedly stands for “Very Small”) integrated 2,500-watt FM transmitter. This one we just finished installing as a backup transmitter for WSPK, on Mount Beacon, New York.

This site has a Nautel V-7.5 as the main transmitter. That unit is very reliable, however, this transmitter site is non-accessible 4-5 months out of the year due to ice and snow. The last time we had an off-air emergency due to a crippling ice storm, it took an entire week to clear away all the downed trees so we could gain access to the site via snowmobile. As such, every system needs dual or even triple redundancy. The lack of said redundancy has led to several prolonged outages in the past.

Last year, we were finally able to install a backup antenna after 63 years without one. This year, it is time to upgrade the rest of the backup equipment. The new auxiliary transmitter is connected directly to the auxiliary antenna via a five-port coax switch. This allows for the use of the dummy load for testing when we are present, but removes a potential failure point in the coax switch. There have been at least two incidences of the disk jockey accidentally transferring the transmitter into the dummy load when taking transmitter readings. Hopefully, this configuration will be fairly idiot-proof. I am making an interlock panel that will prevent both transmitters from being on the air at the same time.

This site is a work in progress.

The backup processor is at the transmitter site, the main processor is in the rack room at the studio. This works well because the main processor occasionally looses its mind and needs to be rebooted. It would be a significant pain to drive all the way up to the transmitter site just to reboot the processor. It might not happen at all during the winter. The backup processor has no mind so it is not an issue.

The VS transmitter is attractive because it has a built-in exciter that accepts composite, AES, or IP audio. The exciter also has a built-in Orban processor as an option. Thus, if it really hit the fan, we could use the LAN extender to get the audio to the site. Further, it could be addressed by any studio in the company WAN. Which is cool, when you think about it.

Nautel continues to crank out innovative, dependable products and there is nothing wrong with that.

As alluded to in the previous post, I spent a fair amount of time at Mt. Mansfield last month. It is the highest point in the state of Vermont, topping out at 4,393 feet (1,339 M). At the top, there is a large transmission facility that is home to WCAX-TV, WPTZ-TV, WVPS, WEZF, several low-power TVs, NOAA weather radio, etc. Next door, Vermont Public TV is housed in a separate building. Here are a few pictures and descriptions. First of all, Mount Mansfield is the home of the Stowe Ski area. They own the access road to the top of the mountain and are quite proud of it. In the summertime, the toll for a carload of people is $26.00.

The transmitter building is below the actual peak. This is one of the few transmitter sites that is manned 24/7, as such there is a working kitchen, bathroom, bunk rooms, and so on. I’d imagine it gets pretty deary up there in the wintertime, but perhaps not.

The transmitters are located along a long hallway. WEZF and WVPS share a room, and WCAX and WPTZ are in open bays as are the low-power TVs. NOAA weather radio and some other government transmitters are located in the garage.

All of the TV transmitters are new because of the recent conversion from analog to digital transmission. WCAX is noted as channel three, which was their analog channel, they actually transmit on channel 22 with a power of 443 KW ERP.

Like WCAX, WPTZ was on channel five, it is now transmitting on channel 14 with 650 KW ERP.

The site is backed up by two 1.2 MW diesel generators, which can be paralleled with the commercial power grid, if needed, during peak demand times. These generators also provide backup power for the Stowe Ski area. There is a 50 KW back up back up generator that runs all of the emergency transmitter cooling equipment if the two main backup generators fail.

All of this generating equipment requires a lot of fuel.

Transmitter building and fuel storage tanks

The TV and FM broadcast antennas are located just below the peak

I don’t recall which TV station belongs to which antenna. The FMs are combined into the four-bay, three-around panel antenna, this includes WVPS’s HD radio signal.

Mount Mansfield from the top looking west

From the very top looking west into the aperture of the TV antennas. I only stood there for as long as it took to get a good picture, then departed. Off to the left of this view is the antenna for Vermont Public TV.

Mount Mansfield Vermont Public TV antenna

The transmission lines go down the hill on a large ice bridge. An absolute necessity as the rime ice can sometimes accumulate several inches.

Tower base, is the location of the highest RF concentration, according to the TV engineers. I only lingered here to snap a few quick photos.

All of the STL antennas are mounted to the side of the transmitter building next to the living quarters.

On top of all that, as if that weren’t enough, there is the view. I would also comment a bit on the weather. In some cases, the site can be completely engulfed in a grey dull fog bank one minute, then the wind changes direction, the sun comes out and you see this:

I can think of worse things.

I regret that I didn’t have a better camera with me as several of the pertinent pictures came out blurry. All of these pictures were taken with my cellphone camera, which works well when it works. It is also very convenient because it is almost always with me and I don’t have to remember to bring another gadget. However, it this is going to be a semi-serious endeavor, I will have to take some of my earnings from these scribblings and buy a good camera.

Tag: FM transmitter site

The Nautel VS-2.5 FM transmitter

Mount Mansfield, highest point in Vermont