fm transmitter – Page 3 – Engineering Radio

Transmitter site re-hab

One of the reasons for the recent lack of posts; I have been busy rehabilitating several transmitter sites for various broadcasting companies. These are mostly FM transmitter sites and vary in power from one kilowatt to twenty-six kilowatts ERP. I enjoy project work, but I have been driving hither and yon, racking up 27,000 miles on my new car since last August.

Subaru Crosstrek XV at remote transmitter site, somewhere in rural New York

So, here is one transmitter site that I just finished; WFLY, Albany, New York. Removed Collins 831F2 transmitter which was functioning as a backup and installed new Broadcast Electronics FM20S. The Continental 816R2 is becoming a little bit long in the tooth for a main transmitter, being new in 1986. Thus, it was time to install a new unit, and I like the Broadcast Electronics solid state and tube designs. With the BE AM and FM solid-state units, their simplicity is their beauty. We service many BE transmitters, some are thirty years old and are still supported by the manufacturer.

WFLY transmitter building, New Scotland, NY

The BE FM20S transmitter is actually two FM10S cabinets combined with one controller. Each cabinet requires a 100 amp three-phase mains connection. This station’s TPO is 11.5 KW, so there is plenty of headroom in case the owners ever want to install HD Radio or replace the three-bay antenna with a two-bay unit.

WFLY main transmitter, Broadcast Electronics FM20S

In transmitter cabinet two, above the exciter is room for HD equipment.

I also reworked the coax switches to provide an easier implementation of the backup transmitter. Basically, the main transmitter is on the main antenna, and the backup transmitter is on the backup antenna. We can move the second coax switch to test the backup into the dummy load. We can move the first coax switch to change antenna feeds.

Pretty standard setup.

We moved the Collins 831F2 from Albany to here to replace another, dead Collins unit at WKXZ in Norwich, New York. This transmitter is forty years old but still runs reliably. Of course, doing this work in the dead of winter added a degree of difficulty to the job, as the roads to both the WFLY and the WKXZ transmitter sites needed work to make them passable for a moving truck. In the end, we used a skid steer with forks on it to get the transmitter up the final hill and into the small WKXZ transmitter building.

Collins 831F2 transmitter, WKXZ, Norwich NY

The WKXZ transmitter building interior is floor space challenged. It is located next to a former TELCO microwave site which has a guyed tower.

Winter! Is upon us….

What better time to take the gondola to K-1? None, none at all. We do work for the two radio stations that are on the peak of Mount Killington, near Rutland, Vermont. In the summer, usually, we can drive up there in a four-wheel drive truck. In the winter, the gondola is the way to go. On this day, there was a 48-56 inch base, light north winds, and air temperature around 10° F (-12° C) .

The reason for the trip today; is repair work on the Nautel VS2.5 transmitter. All three power supplies and the power supply summing board needed to be replaced.

Village seeks repayment from Energy Onix

This saddens me a little bit. Apparently, the Village of Valatie, NY is seeking repayment of a $500K loan from Transmitter Manufacturer Energy Onix. Since the passing of Bernie Wise, the company has basically folded.

The village may foreclose on the building if necessary, said Mayor Diane Argyle.

Located at 1306 River St., Energy-Onix was founded in 1987 by broadcast pioneer Bernard Wise, who is known for bringing the “grounded grid” to radio broadcasting. The company designed, manufactured and sold radio transmitters and tubes.

More from the Columbia-Greene Register Star.

Sadly, there goes support for many Energy Onix and CCA transmitters still in the field. I know of several of those old CCA transmitters that are still cranking away, 40 or more years after they rolled out of the factory in Gloucester, NJ. I have tried, several times, to call Energy Onix since Bernie passed last year and the phone goes unanswered. I wonder if we could pick up the field support and service for these units. I wonder if there are any spare parts left at the old factory building?

Transmitter Haiku

I wrote a little Haiku about Thanksgiving dinner:

Telephone rings
Old transmitter beckons
Dishes get cold

Not exactly the 5/7/5 of a traditional haiku, but close enough. This year, it was the nearly 30-year-old Broadcast Electronics FM35A at WEBE. A set of readings from the remote control reveal; zero forward power, zero plate current, and 12.8 KV plate voltage. My first assumption was some sort of drive issue; a failed exciter or IPA driver. After starting the backup transmitter and making sure that it was running stably, I spoke with the program director and told him we would be out the next morning.

Upon arriving at the transmitter site, I found the BE transmitter had no filament voltage. An obvious clue, I began working backward from the tube socket until I found this:

Broadcast Electronics FM35A filament voltage regulating transformer

This is the auto-transformer that regulates the filament voltage. Schematically, it is noted as T204 and it is in series with one side of the filament transformer. This one is burned open. The bad news; Broadcast Electronics does not stock this part, it is a special order item, the replacement part costs $2,800 dollars and it will take a few weeks to get here. The good news, after digging through our stock of old transmitter parts, I found an exact replacement:

Replacement part name plate, T204, BE FM35A — Replacement part nameplate, T204, BE FM35A

We will be installing it on Monday morning.